Fintech Startup OneCode Raises $13Mn In Series A Round Led By General Catalyst

Fintech startup OneCode has raised $13Mn (INR 100 Cr) in Series A funding led by General Catalyst. The startup will use the fresh capital for hiring across functions and accelerating product and tech development. 

The recent round saw participation from existing investors such as Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, Nexus Venture Partners, and Waterbridge Ventures. In addition, angels also participated in the round. 

The startup said within the next three years, it plans to expand its presence to 100 additional cities and increase the size of its agent network by 500%.

In July 2021, it raised $5 Mn in funding led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge accelerator and Nexus Venture Partners. 

Manish Shara, CEO and cofounder of OneCode is of the view that the 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,” Shara added. 

Founded in 2019 by Manish Shara and Yash Desai, OneCode wants to bridge the gap between financial products and their potential customers in Tier 2, 3, 4 cities of India. OneCode claims to have large banking institutions such as IDFC First, SBI, Bank of Baroda as well as new-age fintech products including Navi, Groww, Jupiter as its customers. 

As Yash Desai, cofounder of OneCode puts it, the startup wants to position itself as a Meesho for financial products and drive financial inclusiveness for the next billion users in India. Desai also added that the fresh funds will help the startup to also double down on upskilling its network of sales agents to serve the customers better.

“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,” Anand Chandrasekaran, partner of General Catalyst, said.

OneCode claims to have seen 40x growth in agent base and generated more than INR 100 Cr in earnings for the agents since it was founded. In addition, it claims to have onboarded more than 1Mn users who have signed up on the platform. 

The startup primarily focuses on a person-to-person recommendation for enabling non-tech savvy users and business owners to transact online for products and services including loans, credit cards, savings accounts, and more.

“We believe that India is a unique market where you can create a lot of value by empowering distribution partners. Manish and Yash have been executing very well and creating value for both agents and financial services institutions and we are very excited to double down on the opportunity,” Pratik Poddar of Nexus Venture Partners, said. 

According to an Inc42 report, India’s overall fintech market opportunity is estimated to be $1.3 Tn by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 31% from 2021 to 2025. In 2021, the country’s fintech startups raised around $8 Bn ($7.97 Bn, to be precise) across 280 funding deals, a record high in both cases, while the average investment ticket size stood at $33 Mn. 

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