Zoca, a company dedicated to empowering local businesses, has announced a $6 million funding round led by Accel, with participation from GTMfund, Elevation Capital, and Better Capital. This investment will fuel Zoca's mission to transform hyperlocal service businesses using its AI-first growth platform, which leverages agentic AI to automate the entire growth funnel—from discovery and booking to client re-engagement. In less than a year, Zoca has already helped over 1,000 local businesses generate over $10 million in revenue and secure more than 120,000 bookings.
For decades, local service businesses have often been overlooked by technological advancements, frequently grappling with complex marketing tools, expensive agencies, and underwhelming results. Zoca aims to reverse this trend by providing a "done-for-you" AI-first growth platform that manages the entire growth funnel. This includes automatically identifying in-demand services in specific neighborhoods, optimizing for discovery, converting leads into bookings, and re-engaging clients at optimal times. The result is a system that consistently fills appointment books and drives tangible revenue, rather than just clicks or leads. Zoca's approach has already demonstrated significant success, helping over 1,000 local beauty & wellness businesses generate over $10 million in revenue and book more than 120,000 appointments, while saving hundreds of hours on manual marketing tasks.
Founded in 2024 by longtime friends and IIT Kharagpur classmates Ashish Verma and Robin Chauhan, Zoca emerged from the realization that while local service professionals are masters of their craft, the existing systems designed to support their growth were fundamentally misaligned with their needs. The founders observed that independent businesses, often formed by professionals leaving larger chains, struggled not due to lack of talent, but due to a system that failed to prioritize their ability to be found, booked, and consistently in demand.
"We saw a fundamental disconnect," says Ashish Verma, Zoca's co-founder and CEO. "These entrepreneurs are selling time, not products. Every empty chair is revenue they'll never recover. The real challenge isn't just visibility anymore—it's everything that comes after it. Being found is one part, but converting leads, filling schedules, and retaining clients is where businesses either grow or stall."
"What makes this space unique is the business model itself. These service professionals aren't focused on selling more units—they're maximizing their available time. So the ROI on every lead, every appointment, and every repeat visit directly impacts their bottom line. That's why we built a system that addresses the entire customer journey, not just one piece of it."
Zoca addresses this challenge with what it terms hyperlocal intelligence, a proprietary engine that detects neighborhood-level demand patterns for specific services. This intelligence reveals that demand for services like "lymphatic drainage massage" or "glycolic facial" can vary dramatically within just a few miles, depending on local demographics. Instead of relying on generic keywords or city-wide trends, Zoca develops individualized strategies based on actual search behavior within a five-mile radius and then automates their execution using its AI agents workforce.
This automation includes optimizing across more than 50 local ranking factors, building mobile-first websites, responding to leads 24/7 through conversational AI, and sending personalized retention SMS and email campaigns timed to each customer's history. Zoca has recently expanded its AI agent capabilities to include paid ads and social media management, effectively taking charge of the entire marketing value chain for small local businesses. With Zoca, businesses gain the benefits that previously required five separate tools, an agency retainer, and countless hours of weekly manual work.
Satisfied customers attest to Zoca's impact. Gail Aungst, Co-owner of Ohana Sun Tanning, commented: "Google search is really important and so key words are critical for us. One of them is "tanning near me". Zoca's helped us stay on top and win. They are totally helping us with our rankings". Latasha Seawood, Owner of Slay by Vashae, shared: "The first 30 days of using Zoca, my business went from maybe 3-4 people a day, into a queue. I was forced to turn people away. No lie. It was like a 30 day turnaround. If you search “sew-in” in your area, I pop up. And that's because of Zoca."
The feasibility of Zoca's model is largely due to AI, which transforms high-cost services into software margins, unlocking growth for a market historically deemed too fragmented and low-margin to serve.
"Zoca is driving business outcomes for the underserved $750B local services market: says Manasi Shah, Partner at Accel. Ashish and the team have the highest customer obsession with a deep understanding of AI in automating a significant number of use cases applicable to the local services market. Growth AI agents are just the beginning, Zoca will create an agent-led OS for every hyperlocal business to achieve full potential.”
Paul Irving, Partner at GTMfund, added: “These businesses are the cornerstones of their communities, but most are being left behind in a digital and AI-first world. Zoca allows them to focus on what matters most: delivering an exceptional service to their customers. The growth, the customer retention and engagement - all on auto-pilot with Zoca’s AI platform. It’s a total game changer for these local businesses, and we couldn’t be more excited to support the Zoca team on their mission.”
Poorvi Vijay, Principal, Elevation Capital, said: “Zoca arms every neighbourhood business with a 24/7 AI growth engine. Ashish and Robin's passion and unique insights to serve this underserved market and help them transform with AI is truly outstanding. We are thrilled to back them as they build the operating system for hyperlocal services worldwide."
Looking ahead, Zoca plans to expand its agent architecture, deepen its platform integrations, and extend its system to more verticals facing similar time-based growth challenges. The company envisions a future where local businesses are powered by invisible AI infrastructure—agents quietly working in the background to drive outcomes, rather than relying on complex dashboards.
"In the next decade, the top local businesses around us won't be big chains. Instead, they'll be local professionals — quietly supercharged by AI that helps them attract more clients, keep them coming back, and grow faster than ever. At Zoca, we are making it possible for independent businesses to thrive without all the tech headaches and focus on delivering exceptional experiences to their customers.” said Ashish Verma.
Zoca uses AI to drive traffic, convert leads, and turn them into loyal customers. Zoca’s AI agents manage the entire growth funnel, automatically identifying what services are in demand in a specific neighborhood, optimizing for discovery, converting leads into bookings, and re-engaging clients at just the right time.
Zoca has already helped over 1,000 local beauty & wellness businesses generate $10M+ in revenue, book more than 120,000 appointments, and save hundreds of hours on manual marketing tasks.
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