Latest news with #AshishVerma
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
PM e-Drive scheme: Electric buses to take Bengaluru fleet size to over 10,000
Bengaluru: After stagnating at around 6,700 buses for nearly eight years despite an exponential increase in Bengaluru's population, the city's bus fleet is set to breach the 10,000-mark soon on the back of the addition of 4,500 electric buses, likely over the next one year. The addition under the PM e-Drive scheme will provide a significant boost to green mobility in Bengaluru. Experts have long advocated that Bengaluru — given its growth rate and attendant urban transport ills — requires no less than 10,000 buses to adequately meet its public transport demand. To make best use of the expanded fleet, they cautioned against prioritising only high-profit routes or renting buses to private companies at the expense of commuters. For the record, Bengaluru accounts for over 1.2 crore vehicles, and more than 1 crore of them are private bikes and cars. The city, which recently reaffirmed its dubious status of being among the slowest cities for traffic in the world, had failed to add a significant number of buses to its fleet since 2017-18. Currently, the fleet has just 6,800 buses, with electric vehicles accounting for 25% of them. In a major step towards addressing this, Bengaluru is set to receive 4,500 e-buses under the PM e-Drive Scheme, the largest allocation among all participating cities. The announcement came after a high-level meeting chaired by Union minister for heavy industries and steel HD Kumaraswamy, which discussed the rollout of the scheme across states. Prof Ashish Verma, convener of Sustainable Transportation Lab at Indian Institute of Science, welcomed the move but emphasised the need for a strategic approach to implementation. He stressed that simply increasing the number of buses is not enough. "BMTC must adopt a rational and scientific approach in the deployment of its fleet, including planning routes, optimising schedules, and preventing issues such as bus bunching. The focus should be on maximising public benefit rather than commercial interests." A press release from the Union minister's office said 2,000 buses would be allocated to Hyderabad, 2,800 to Delhi, 1,000 to Ahmedabad, and 600 to Surat under the current phase of PM e-Drive. "From Bengaluru to Delhi, cities are actively embracing e-buses to make public transport cleaner, smarter, and more efficient. We aren't merely allocating e-buses, we're shaping the future of India's transport system with innovation and environmental consciousness," the minister added. "With close coordination between the Centre and states like Telangana, Karnataka, Delhi and Gujarat, we are determined to deliver on the PM e-Drive promise. " The scheme aims to deploy 14,028 e-buses with a total outlay of Rs 10,900 crore over a two-year period — from April 2024 to March 2026. Recently, state transport minister Ramalinga Reddy met the Union minister to seek the allocation of e-buses under the central scheme. Currently, BMTC operates 1,405 e-buses through agreements with four private operators. These buses run under the gross cost contract model. Additionally, BMTC is set to induct 370 more buses under existing agreements. A majority of e-buses in the current fleet were inducted under FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of [Hybrid and] Electric Vehicles) scheme. As BMTC shifts gears for a greener Bengaluru and better commuting experience for its citizens, it should promote public transport by introducing dedicated bus lanes and other infrastructural improvements, an expert said.
Entrepreneur
22-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
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.
Economic Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
AI startup Zoca raises $6 million from Accel, Elevation Capital, others
Live Events Artificial intelligence (AI) startup Zoca on Wednesday announced that it has raised $6 million in a funding round led by Accel , with participation from GTMfund Elevation Capital and Better Capital Founded in 2024 by IIT Kharagpur alumni Ashish Verma and Robin Chauhan, the platform helps hyperlocal businesses like salons, spas, florists, petcare, i.e. anyone servicing location-based audiences, with their marketing needs through a string of AI agents. It is available in US as of now."Zoca's AI agents manage the entire growth funnel for these businesses: identifying demand, optimising their discovery on Google Search, converting leads and re-engaging the customers," Verma, cofounder and chief executive officer, told startup will use the funding to implement its go-to-market strategy in the US and deploy more AI agents. "We will build so that Zoca is not just a growth platform, but an operating system for any local business," Verma said. The company has a 54-member team based in Bengaluru, and with this fundraise, it plans to hire more hands in the US as agents optimise local search rankings, send rebooking messages and produce social media content for these businesses. They have also launched agents for paid ads and social media management. These agents are trained on a variety of large language models (LLMs), including Llama and ChatGPT. The startup primarily works with beauty and wellness businesses for now, and hopes to get into the pet care its inception, Zoca said it has worked with over 1,000 local beauty and wellness businesses to generate over $10 million in revenue and book more than 120,000 appointments. Over the next 12-18 months, the startup is looking to increase its revenue tenfold, Verma said."In India, people end up calling businesses to build trust. In the US, they go to the website to gauge authenticity. On Google Maps, there are three options: call a business, get directions, and go to their website. In the US, 70% of the traffic on that page chooses the website option. This is where we found opportunity," Verma said.
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
AI startup Zoca raises $6 million from Accel, Elevation Capital, others
The platform helps hyperlocal businesses like salons, spas, florists and petcare, i.e. anyone servicing location-based audiences, with their marketing needs through a string of AI agents. Per cofounder and CEO Ashish Verma, to date, Zoca has worked with over 1,000 local beauty and wellness businesses to generate over $10 million in revenue and book more than 120,000 appointments. In the next 12–18 months, it plans to increase its revenue tenfold. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Artificial intelligence (AI) startup Zoca on Wednesday announced that it has raised $6 million in a funding round led by Accel , with participation from GTMfund Elevation Capital and Better Capital Founded in 2024 by IIT Kharagpur alumni Ashish Verma and Robin Chauhan, the platform helps hyperlocal businesses like salons, spas, florists, petcare, i.e. anyone servicing location-based audiences, with their marketing needs through a string of AI agents. It is available in US as of now."Zoca's AI agents manage the entire growth funnel for these businesses: identifying demand, optimising their discovery on Google Search, converting leads and re-engaging the customers," Verma, cofounder and chief executive officer, told startup will use the funding to implement its go-to-market strategy in the US and deploy more AI agents. "We will build so that Zoca is not just a growth platform, but an operating system for any local business," Verma said. The company has a 54-member team based in Bengaluru, and with this fundraise, it plans to hire more hands in the US as agents optimise local search rankings, send rebooking messages and produce social media content for these businesses. They have also launched agents for paid ads and social media management. These agents are trained on a variety of large language models (LLMs), including Llama and ChatGPT. The startup primarily works with beauty and wellness businesses for now, and hopes to get into the pet care its inception, Zoca said it has worked with over 1,000 local beauty and wellness businesses to generate over $10 million in revenue and book more than 120,000 appointments. Over the next 12-18 months, the startup is looking to increase its revenue tenfold, Verma said."In India, people end up calling businesses to build trust. In the US, they go to the website to gauge authenticity. On Google Maps, there are three options: call a business, get directions, and go to their website. In the US, 70% of the traffic on that page chooses the website option. This is where we found opportunity," Verma said.
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Get Your Local Business Noticed By Its Customers
Hyperlocal businesses such as beauty salons are modernising sales and marketing tools Small businesses struggle to find the time for sales and marketing activity that attracts new customers. New research from freelancer platform Fiverr suggests that 70% of small businesses spend less than five hours each week on such activity, even though they recognise its importance. Fiverr's research was based on a survey of 6,000 small businesses in 25 countries – this is an international challenge, in other words. Why are small business owners and managers falling short in this area? 'Most simply don't have the time or resources to give it the attention it needs,' explains Rivi Bloch, general manager of catalog at Fiverr. 'This survey underscores a growing reliance on freelancers and AI tools to bridge that gap.' Technology certainly has a huge role to play – and is already having a huge impact. One recent survey found the global market revenues of AI usage in marketing are set to reach $47 billion this year, and that sales of such tools will exceed $107 billion by 2028. Arizona-based Zoca offers one such tool. The start-up focuses on local businesses aiming to attract customers in their neighbourhoods – particularly health and beauty salons, fitness studios and pet care providers. These are small and independent businesses which often struggle with challenges such as search engine optimisation; for example, they need to maximise their reach to customers searching for businesses in the local area but have no interest in appearing in search results for customers based on the other side of the country. Ashish Verma, the founder and CEO of Zoca, says the key to supporting these 'hyperlocal' businesses is to help them 'get discovered, booked and rebooked'. Zoca, which is today announcing a $6 million fundraising, offers a platform that creates online content for businesses so they appear prominently in local search results. But its AI-powered platform also integrates with the business's calendar to book clients in. 'These entrepreneurs are selling their time rather than a product, and every empty chair is missed revenue they'll never recover,' says Verma. 'Their real challenge now goes well past visibility – it's also to convert leads, fill schedules and ensure that customers keep coming back.' To that end, Zoca says it has helped more than 1,000 local businesses book more than 120,000 appointments generating more than $10 million in revenues since its launch in 2021. Zoca doesn't get paid unless it generates bookings for the local business. But its results are encouraging. Gail Aungst, owner of Phoenix-based beauty company Ohana Sun Tanning, is one entrepreneur who has tried the platform. 'Google search is really important and so keywords are critical for us,' she says of Zoca's support with search results. More broadly, Zoca is part of a growing wave of adoption of AI tools by small businesses. Fiverr's research suggests that three-quarters of small business owners have now started to experiment with generative AI – just 17% have no plans to incorporate such tools into their workplace over the next year. There's no shortage of choice. From automated SEO analysis tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs to bookings apps such as Fresha, Booksy and BookingPress, small business owners increasingly have affordable AI tools at their disposal. They may not have the time themselves available to devote to sales and marketing activity, but modern technologies can now take on the work on their behalf. It's a trend that Zoca's investors – the company's funding round is led by Accel with participation from GTMfund, Elevation Capital and Better Capital – believe the best technologists will capitalise on. Accel partner Manasi Shah says the local services market is worth $750 billion. 'Growth AI agents are just the beginning,' he says. GTMfund partner Paul Irving adds: 'These businesses are the cornerstones of their communities, but most are being left behind in a digital and AI-first world.'
