S6E7 - For-Profit Prayer Apps: Good For The Soul?

Device & Virtue

SHOULD WE PUT OUR MONEY WHERE OUR PRAYER IS?

How do you pray? In the morning? With friends from church? How about with your smartphone? Millions of people already are, and paying a subscription to do so. And Big Tech thinks you will too. Are Prayer Apps good for the soul? Adam and Chris dive into the spiritual, and financial, realities of Prayer Apps and this new pay-to-pray world.

We do everything else on our phones. Why not praying too? But how might these apps change the ways people connect with God? And should we have to pay for it?

Prayer Apps made headlines in 2021, winning the attention of Silicon Valley investors to the tune of more than $175 million dollars. If Silicon Valley believes people's prayer lives could become big business, maybe Christians should be asking a couple questions too.

LINKS

• Forbes reported that venture capital funding for religious, primarily Christian, “apps have increased from $6.1 million in 2016 to $48.5 million in 2020 and $175.3 million in 2021.”
• TechCrunch talked to Hallow’s founder, Alex Jones, about their $40 million investment from Peter Thiel and Drive Capital.
• Religion News Service reported on Glorify’s 40 million from the venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz, and a host of celebrity supporters. More here from TechCrunch.

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