AI Startup Zoca Raises USD 6 Mn Led by Accel to Power Growth for Local Businesses
The Bengaluru-based company will deploy the fresh funds to expand its agent-based AI architecture, deepen platform integrations, and unlock new verticals where professionals rely on time-bound services.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
AI startup Zoca has raised USD 6 million in a funding round led by Accel, with participation from GTMfund, Elevation Capital, and Better Capital.
The Bengaluru-based company will deploy the fresh funds to expand its agent-based AI architecture, deepen platform integrations, and unlock new verticals where professionals rely on time-bound services.
Founded in 2024 by IIT Kharagpur alumni Ashish Verma and Robin Chauhan, Zoca was created to support independent professionals—such as beauty salons and wellness studios—who often lack the time, tools, or support to consistently fill their appointment books.
Zoca's AI platform tackles this head-on by automating the entire growth funnel: from identifying local demand and optimising online discovery to converting leads and re-engaging clients. It offers AI agents that run full marketing playbooks autonomously, including local SEO, lead follow-ups, rebooking messages, paid ads, and social media management—eliminating the need for multiple tools or agencies.
"What makes this space unique is the business model. 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," said Ashish Verma, Co-founder and CEO of Zoca. "Every empty chair is lost revenue. We built Zoca to help them stay fully booked — without lifting a finger."
In under a year, the platform claims to have helped over 1,000 local businesses book 120,000+ appointments, driving more than USD 10 million in revenue while saving countless hours of manual marketing tasks. Zoca essentially replaces the need for five separate tools, an agency retainer, and hours of operational grunt work.
"For many of these businesses, the challenge isn't just visibility," said Verma. "It's converting leads, filling schedules, and retaining clients—areas where traditional tools fall short. That's why we built a system that addresses the entire customer journey."
Investors see Zoca as a category-defining player. "Zoca is driving business outcomes for the underserved $750B global local services market," said Manasi Shah, Vice President at Accel. "Growth AI agents are just the beginning."
Paul Irving, Partner at GTMfund, added, "Zoca allows local businesses to focus on delivering exceptional service while its AI takes care of growth and retention. It's a total game changer."
With its sights set on building an agent-led OS for local businesses, Zoca is quietly reimagining the future of hyperlocal growth — powered not by dashboards, but by invisible AI working in the background.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Another Milestone: Arctech Ranks World's No. 2 in Solar Tracker Market
KUNSHAN, China, June 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Wood Mackenzie, a world-renowned energy research firm, released its 2025 Global Solar PV Tracker Market Share Report. Arctech surged to the second position globally with a 16% market share, while also claiming the top spot in key markets such as India, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, demonstrating strong global competitiveness. 01 Industry-Leading Growth With an astonishing 113% year-on-year growth rate, Arctech became the only top-10 manufacturer to exceed 100% y-o-y growth, far exceeding the industry average. 02 Dominance Across Multiple Regional Markets Notably, Arctech has established leadership in several key markets: Middle East: Topped the market again, becoming the region's most preferred tracker supplier. India & Asia-Pacific: Maintained the No.1 position for two consecutive years, further solidifying market dominance. Europe, Saudi Arabia & Emerging Markets: Steadily growing market share, reflecting the success of our global expansion strategy. In 2024, Arctech's global tracker shipments reached 17.41 GW, supported by a robust production-sales-service network spanning three continents—including 4 service centers、six producing bases and 17 branches—delivering end-to-end services from design to O&M for global customers. 03 "Tracker+" Strategy Opens a New Chapter in Globalization With new producing bases in Saudi Arabia and Brazil, along with a European logistics hub, Arctech has built a globally integrated supply chain. Its differentiated competitive edge has secured multiple GW-level projects in India, the UAE, Argentina, and beyond, validating its innovative R&D and localized operations. SNEC 2025: A Grand Showcase Ahead From June 11th–13th, Arctech will unveil its full suite of "Tracker+" and "Green Power+" solutions at SNEC (Booth: 3H-A110), showcasing smart energy solutions for complex scenarios and driving the global energy transition forward. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Arctech Solar Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Digital Trends
40 minutes ago
- Digital Trends
SpaceX just called off Wednesday's crewed launch to the ISS
SpaceX has just announced that it's standing down from tomorrow's Falcon 9 launch of Axiom Space's Ax-4 crew to the International Space Station (ISS). A new target launch date has yet to be announced. In a post on X on Tuesday evening, SpaceX said its engineers need more time to repair the liquid oxygen leak identified during earlier booster inspections, and therefore would not be launching on June 11. Another plan to launch Ax-4 was also called off 24 hours earlier due to strong winds in the ascent corridor. Standing down from tomorrow's Falcon 9 launch of Ax-4 to the @Space_Station to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOx leak identified during post static fire booster inspections. Once complete – and pending Range availability – we will share a new launch date — SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 11, 2025 Four astronauts — three of whom are non-professional and will be heading to orbit for the first time — are currently in isolation close to the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Recommended Videos The Ax-4 crew comprises three individuals from India, Poland, and Hungary, with all three nations sending citizens to the ISS for the first time. American Peggy Whitson makes up the four-person team, with the retired NASA astronaut leading her second commercial human spaceflight mission. The Ax-4 crew will spend about two weeks aboard the orbital outpost, living and working alongside the seven members who are already there. The upcoming mission will be Axiom Space's fourth privately funded crewed mission to the ISS. The Texas-based company also has a contract with NASA to develop habitable modules that can be attached to the space station, with a plan for the modules to become part of a free-flying, commercially funded orbital facility. Jared Isaacman, who's been on two private space missions and until recently was set to become the chief of NASA until President Trump pulled his nomination, commented on the delay to the Ax-4 mission, saying in a post on X: 'An inconvenience for the guests and families expecting a launch, but hopefully the Axiom Space's Ax-4 crew is having a fun time in quarantine. Won't be long before the big moment. All the best on the mission.' If you'd like to watch the Ax-4 crew head to orbit from the Kennedy Space Center, then check out this article, which will be updated to show the new target launch date just as soon as it's announced.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Trump's AI czar downplays risk AI chip exports could be smuggled
White House AI czar David Sacks on Tuesday downplayed the risk that coveted American AI chips could be smuggled to bad actors, and expressed concern that regulating U.S. AI too tightly could stifle growth and cede the critical market to China. "We talk about these chips like they could be smuggled in the back of a briefcase. That's not what they look like. These are server racks that are eight feet tall and weigh two tons," Sacks said at the AWS summit in Washington."They don't walk out doors. It's very easy to basically verify that they're where they're supposed to be," he said. The comments indicated President Donald Trump's approach to AI could be centered on expanding markets abroad for U.S. AI chips and models. Former President Joe Biden had emphasized policies that countered risks the chips could be diverted to China and used to bolster Beijing's military."I do worry we're on a trajectory where fear could overtake opportunity and we end up sort of crippling this wonderful progress that we're seeing," Sacks said, citing a raft of bills in state legislatures seeking to regulate AI, as well as permitting challenges facing companies seeking to build the data centers that power AI. Trump rescinded Biden's executive order aimed at promoting competition, protecting consumers and ensuring AI was not used for misinformation. He also rescinded Biden's so-called AI diffusion rule, which capped the amount of American AI computing capacity that some countries were allowed to obtain via U.S. AI chip imports."We rescinded that Biden diffusion rule, diffusion a bad word. Diffusion of our technology should be a good word," Sacks said. The Trump administration and the United Arab Emirates also announced a plan last month for the Gulf country to build the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the U.S. after Biden in 2023 put in place rules that curbed most AI chip shipments to the aim at that regulation, Sacks said, "What play are we giving them? We're basically going to push them into the arms of China."He added that if, in five years, AI chips made by sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei were everywhere, "that means we can't let that happen."The need to remove hurdles to U.S. AI innovation is urgent as China has made important advances in its AI models, Sacks said. This year, the Chinese AI app DeepSeek shocked the world with its sophisticated, affordably trained model. "China is not years and years behind us in AI. Maybe they're three to six months," said Sacks. "It's a very close race." The White House later said he was referring to China's AI models, adding that Chinese AI chips are one to two years behind their U.S. counterparts.
