OneCode (ZET): How Yash Desai is Building a People-Led Distribution Channel for Bharat

In the high-tech corridors of Bengaluru and Mumbai, the digital revolution is a settled fact. But in the dusty lanes of Gorakhpur, Varanasi, and Jhunjhunu, the internet is still often viewed with a "Trust Deficit." Yash Desai, Co-founder of OneCode (now rebranded as ZET), is bridging this energy divide. By building a people-led distribution channel that empowers local influencers to recommend digital products, Yash is ensuring that "Bharat" finally has access to the same financial and healthcare services as India's metros.

Yash Desai’s journey is a story of professional evolution from a "corporate slave" to a category-creator. A graduate of Hult Business School with a stint at Stanford, Yash spent five transformative years at Dineout, leading international expansion and managing multi-million dollar P&Ls. In 2019, alongside co-founder Manish Shrivastava (former Product Head at Dineout), he launched OneCode to solve the "Distribution Moat" for new-age brands. Backed by **$13 million** in funding from marquee investors like **General Catalyst**, **Sequoia Surge**, and **Nexus Venture Partners**, OneCode is now the engine of growth for over 1.5 lakh agents across the country.

The Problem: The 'Distribution Wall' for New-Age Brands

New-age brands like FarmEasy, 1mg, or Equitas Bank don't have the 50-year-old distribution networks of an HUL or HDFC. They want to move quickly but struggle to penetrate Tier 3, 4, and 5 cities where digital advertising has zero ROI. Simultaneously, these regions suffer from high unemployment, with many youth looking for commission-based jobs like qr-sticking or merchant onboarding but lacking a unified platform to grow.

"We saw three pillars," Yash explains. "Brands needing distribution, rural customers having a trust deficit, and local youth needing stable commission income. OneCode was built to align these three needs into a single, scalable people-led machine."

The Solution: The 'OneCode' Referral Loop

OneCode acts as a unified digital platform where local agents (OneCoders) can sign up to sell products from multiple brands. Instead of a standard referral link that gives "points," OneCode provides direct monetary payouts into bank accounts or Paytm wallets, creating a viable livelihood for the agent.

Scaling through Regionality: The 70% Hindi Factor

OneCode’s growth is rooted in its hyper-local approach. While most Indian apps are built English-first, Yash discovered that only 15% of his users were comfortable with English. By pivoting to a Hindi-first interface, they unlocked massive growth. Today, 70% of OneCode transactions are driven through the Hindi version of the app. This realization helped them scale from a small 5-person team working out of Dineout’s office to a Series A-funded powerhouse.

"Planning for more than six months in a startup is useless," Yash notes. "The market moves too fast. We moved from a horizontal e-commerce model to a vertical focus on Fintech and EdTech because that's where the 'Unit Economics' worked for our agents."

Lessons in Resilience: Picking up the Shoulders

Yash is candid about the psychological toll of the startup journey. He shares how "momentary shoulder drops" happen when a product feature fails or a hiring cycle goes wrong. He emphasizes that entrepreneurship at 27 is the ideal time to take risks, as the external pressures are lower than they might be at 35. For Yash, the biggest lesson has been the "One-Step" philosophy—focusing on depth in a few categories (Fintech/EdTech) rather than being a "shallow" horizontal player.

"Choosing your investors is like choosing a third partner," he reflects. "When we raised capital, we had two equally rosy options. We had to decide who would sit with us week-in and week-out to solve problems. That decision was the toughest in our 18-month journey."

The Future: Standardizing Livelihoods for Bharat

Yash’s vision for OneCode (now ZET) is to become the largest distribution system for the next billion users. He sees a future where every digital-first brand—from neo-banks to D2C apparel—uses OneCode to reach the heart of India. For Yash, the ultimate victory isn't a valuation, but the sight of a youth in a remote village earning a stable, dignified income by bringing the digital world to their community.

OneCode is proving that the next generation of Indian unicorns won't just be built on code—they will be built on people. By giving Bharat a reason to trust the internet, Yash Desai and his team are ensuring that for the next billion users, the digital future is finally human.

About the Guest

Yash Desai is the Co-founder of OneCode (ZET). An alumnus of Hult International Business School and Stanford, Yash is a veteran of the Indian startup ecosystem with deep experience in sales and operations at Dineout. Under his leadership, OneCode has emerged as a premier distribution platform for rural India, securing multi-million dollar funding and serving marquee brands. He is a recognized leader in the "Bharat-tech" space and a passionate advocate for financial inclusion and rural employment.

OneCode (now ZET) is a people-led distribution platform that connects new-age brands with a network of local agents in Tier 3, 4, and 5 cities. By leveraging social capital and regional languages, the company helps brands solve the "Trust Deficit" in rural India while providing commission-based livelihood opportunities to lakhs of individuals across the country.