OneCode, a company that aims to digitize the sales ecosystem of India, has announced that it has raised $5Mn in a round led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from WaterBridge Ventures.
The round also saw investments from angel investors Aakrit Vaish (Haptik), Amrish Rau (Pine Labs), Anand Chandrasekaran, Arjun Vaidya, Ashish Dave (Mirae Asset), Cloud Capital, Gaurav Munjal (Unacademy), Harshil Mathur (Razorpay), Jitendra Gupta (Jupiter Money), Kunal Shah, Lalit Keshre (Groww), Miten Sampat, Pravin Jadhav (Raise Financial Services), Rahul Mathur (Bimape), Sandeep Srinivas (Redcarpet), Sujeeth Kumar (Udaan), Sweta Rau, and Vivek Ananda (Bounce).
India’s sales culture is still dependent heavily upon live interactions. And despite having access to some of the cheapest internet rates around the world, along with a burgeoning software industry, sales across all industries, is mostly occupied by folks who are not tech savvy. Thus, marketing plans like e-mail marketing, or dedicated ads on social media platforms, while certainly helpful, are not the main driver of sales in the country, especially for B2C channels.
This mandates that companies have access to a large sales force, so that they can organize live product pitches and drive sales. However, that can become an issue for a growing organization, especially with the costs that come with training so many new employees.
This is where OneCode comes in, allowing companies to outsource a salesforce. It aims to mobilize sales agents across the country, by using technology to bridge the gap between brands that want skilled sales personnel and someone looking for a job.
Working with a variety of financial institutions, such as banks, as well as discount brokers and credit card companies, like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and RedCarpet, OneCode allows companies to connect with a trained network of dedicated sales people, who can then plug their products to customers, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
On the other hand, it also allows employees looking for a stable source of income to connect with brands who can use someone of their expertise.
That’s not all, as to ensure that its agents are efficient, OneCode offers comprehensive on the job training to its ’employees.’
The company aims to digitize a sales force of 50 million agents across India, and bridge the gap between brands and potential buyers who may need in-person interactions and physical touch points before committing to a purchase.
“OneCode helps to provide brands with an outsourced sales army, which empowers people in tier-2 and tier-3 cities to become sales agents with a steady source of income. Even during these tough times, it’s heartening to see how we can still provide our sales agents with livelihood from the comfort of their own homes,” shares Manish Shara, Co-Founder of OneCode.
The company has already partnered with over 20 brands in India including four large banks. It has also managed to bring 300,000 registered sales agents to its platform to-date, and with this funding, we expect this number to grow massively.
