[Funding alert] OneCode raises $13M in Series A round led by General Catalyst

Bengaluru-based business-to-consumer (B2C) fintech and financial services company Onecode has raised $13 million (Rs 100 crore) in its Series A funding round led by venture capital firm, General Catalyst. Returning investors Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, Nexus Venture Partners, and Waterbridge Ventures also participated in the round.

OneCode had raised $5 million led by Surge and Nexus Venture Partners in July 2021.

Angel investors in the company including co-founders of Meesho — Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Madhusudhan of M2P, Vikas Choudhary — President at Reliance Jio, DSP Family Office, and Reddy Futures Fund also participated in the round.

A YourStory Tech50 startup, OneCode will invest the capital to hire talent across functions and accelerate product and technology development. The company will also expand its presence to an additional 100 cities and will invest in growing its agent network.

Founded in 2019 by former DineOut executives, Manish Shara and Yash Desai, OneCode uses its network of agents to recommend financial products to its users in Tier-II, III and IV cities. The startup works on a commission-based distribution model, recommending products across more than 10 categories including credit cards, loans, pocket insurance, bank accounts, and others. 

“Trust deficit is the biggest problem in fintech adoption in India. People are less trusting of traditional acquisition channels like websites and apps. This is exactly what we are solving for. Our distribution network of trusted agents offers the much-needed assurance to customers as people rely heavily on their networks for recommendations, especially when it comes to critical financial services,” said Manish Shara, CEO and Co-founder of OneCode, in a statement issued by the company.

Co-founder Yash Desai calls OneCode’s business “Meesho for financial products” in India. 

Currently, OneCode partners with the likes of IDFC First, SBI, Bank of Baroda as well as new age startups like Navi, Groww, Jupiter, and others. The company claims to have generated over Rs 100 crore in earnings for its agents since inception and has over one million registered users on the platform.

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“Manish and Yash have built a robust fintech platform for India with a vision to bring best-in-breed financial services to millions of consumers who would otherwise be left out of the growth of the Internet and the opportunities that it creates” said Anand Chandrasekaran, partner at General Catalyst in the statement.

This is General Catalyst’s second investment this week after agritech company FarMart, as it adds to its India portfolio.