This Silicon Valley start-up claims that their app helps people get through illness, natural disasters, and stress, while creating sustainable jobs for families in low-income countries. At American Standard news, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so we asked Chad Bradenson, the product director for Ryte, for a private demonstration.

Bradenson explained that he and his co-founder, Brianna Bākhrā, came from different worlds. Bākhrā started her extensive non-profit career in her home country of Nepal and rose to international fame when she rapidly organized the NGO response to the 2015 earthquake and subsequent rebuilding campaigns. Since then, she’s administered large-scale efforts against malaria, AIDS, and Botswana Red Eye in eight countries.

Bradenson was born in Marin County, CA, into a family that owns the controlling stake in Krispy Kreme Donuts. He graduated from Stanford in 2019 with a degree in computer science, assembling an impressive list of contacts. During his graduation speech he named his ambition: creating technology solutions that help marginalized communities.

Ryte is their new joint venture and releases Jan 26, 2022. The app is a marketplace and social networking solution that makes it easier for people to engage in remote religious ceremonies, blessings, and rituals. Bradenson explained his motivation to make the app. “The Covid-19 pandemic and government overreach are making it harder for people to follow their religious beliefs. Restrictions and bans on congregating prevent the faithful from finding fellowship during the time when they need it most. We made Ryte to help believers connect and participate in their faith, wherever they are.”

Bradenson went on to describe how the app works. First, you select your religion from a list of several offerings, choose a sub-sect of the religion if available, and then choose the type of religious practice you’d like to participate in. In our demo, we chose Roman Catholic and then added the Greek Orthodox denomination. After this step, a huge list of services appeared. We chose Animal Sacrifice and added a single young lamb to our cart. The description said that our Ryte would take place at the Byzantine church of Saint George in the village of Taybeh, which is about 20 miles from Jerusalem.

During the order confirmation, there were several options, including a method to tip your Ryter. We checked the box for a video recording ($2) and checked a box that instructed our Ryter, Father Raed, to distribute the meat to the poor after the sacrifice. This came at no additional cost, but didn’t get us a discount either. We also added a $3 tip. In total, our order came to $16.66 USD.

During the last step you dedicate your ritual to someone or something. We chose Jesus (of course) and our good friend David who had been suffering from COVID-19 symptoms for nearly a week. A few minutes later, we set an appointment with our Ryter, Father Raed, and just a half hour later we met him on Zoom. He then live-streamed the ritual slaughter of “Nevinovat” the lamb, which Raed told us was Roman for “innocent.” He was quite a professional and I was very glad Nevinovat was in his hands and not mine.

I was touched. It was amazing that we could be granted this incredible release of or sins in just minutes on the app. Despite my journalistic indifference, I noticed a stirring in the normally stagnant waters of my soul. Through Ryte, we connected with a priest across the globe and shared an intimate religious moment with him. We thanked Father Raed and sent the recording of the slaughter and our message of blessings to our friend David, who said he would watch it later.

To make sure we covered the “ethnic” angle, we hopped back on the app and plugged in Hinduism with the Shaktism denomination. A huge list of offerings appeared which included chickens, goats, “Ghusuri” (young pig), and more. The prices were significantly lower than my first Ryte. I selected Ryter Shatha, who’s name means “Aromatic.” Her profile said she was located the Tamil area of Sri Lanka. I wanted to test the social aspects of the app so I sent a private message to her asking how much blood it would take to fully cure my friend of Covid-19. This was starting to be fun!