BY VEENA RAO
Meet Sri Gopalakrishnan, a Silicon Valley technologist whose pandemic-born initiative is transforming how philanthropy works in India. His platform, KindKart, merges the Indian value of seva (selfless service) with cutting-edge transparency: every donation is tracked, delivered, and photographed — with not a single rupee or dollar taken by the platform itself.
“No fine print, no platform cuts — just direct, visible impact,” Gopalakrishnan told NRI Pulse.
San Francisco, CA, August 6, 2025: KindKart’s story began in March 2020 with a simple WhatsApp call between Gopalakrishnan and his father in Bangalore. Migrant workers in his father’s neighborhood were stranded without wages or food. Gopalakrishnan wired money via PayPal, and together they coordinated food kit deliveries worth ₹680 each. A LinkedIn post unexpectedly raised $10,000, scaling their grassroots relief effort from 50 families to 1,300 families in just two months.
“That experience showed me the power of networks and the hunger for transparent giving,” Gopalakrishnan said.
Launched formally in 2022, KindKart operates as a charitable storefront. Donors browse verified needs from grassroots organizations, choose specific items to fund (such as rice, hygiene kits, or school supplies), and track every stage of fulfillment via a mobile-first app.
The result? Radical transparency. “In my experience in social giving, transparency is great in theory but vague in practice,” Gopalakrishnan said. “While the intent of every organization is to be transparent to their donors – lack of technical infrastructure makes it very difficult for grassroot organizations to report accurately on a donor’s help. We don’t want to be 90% correct. We answer that question – 100% of the time. Transparency isn’t just a buzzword for us – it’s our baseline. 100% to the cause means nothing without proof. With KindKart, we built a system that shows you everything, no guesswork, no gray area.”
Unlike many nonprofits, KindKart charges no fees to donors or partner organizations. Operating costs are covered through designated contributions and vendor partnerships, ensuring that every donated dollar directly benefits those in need.
In just two years, KindKart has raised over $550,000 from 1,800 donors and now supports grassroots partners across 14 Indian states (up from 11 previously). The platform impacts over 7,000 people daily, partnering with 65 vetted organizations.
Its newly released Transparency Report is a milestone in diaspora-led philanthropy — a real-time, item-by-item accounting of donations by region and need. “Every number has a name behind it,” Gopalakrishnan said.
KindKart’s first app was built by three volunteers in six months. Today, it runs with a lean team of four software engineers, three business operations staff, and about 20 rotating volunteers skilled in AI, content creation, and fundraising.
The model has resonated especially with the Indian American tech community, whose referrals have driven much of KindKart’s organic growth.
So, how can the Indian American community get more involved with KindKart? There are several ways the Indian American Community can help, Gopalakrishnan said. It starts with giving and championing KindKart to friends and colleagues.
“Our donor base started in the Bay Area and is now expanding to other cities in the US. We have several volunteering opportunities and would like ambassadors in local communities to partner with KindKart and promote this within their community. We are expanding our reach into corporate sponsorships and grants. We would like our Indian American Community that has a strong corporate presence to help KindKart secure corporate sponsorships. We are a unique concept that anyone can easily relate to and understand. We are here to create an amplifying impact in this world and we want people from our Indian American community to be part of the next big social giving platform in the world.”
As KindKart expands, it offers a new model for giving — one rooted in trust and connection, showing donors the faces and stories behind every act of kindness.”
More information at KindKart.
