Zoca Raises $6 Million From Accel to Transform Local Businesses Using Agentic AI

For decades, local service businesses have been overlooked by tech – expected to juggle bloated marketing tools, overpriced agencies, and underwhelming results. Today, Zoca announced a $6 million round to flip that script. The company is building an AI-first growth platform to help hyperlocal service businesses get discovered, booked, and rebooked — promising one outcome: more paying clients, guaranteed. The funding round was led by Accel with participation from GTMfund, Elevation Capital and Better Capital.

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While most software hands small business owners a tool and wishes them luck, Zoca takes a different approach. Its 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. The result is a done-for-you system that fills calendars and drives real revenue, not just clicks or leads. 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.

Founded in 2024 by longtime friends and IIT Kharagpur classmates Ashish Verma and Robin Chauhan, Zoca was born out of a fundamental realization: while local service professionals are masters of their craft, the systems meant to support their growth simply weren’t designed with them in mind. As more professionals left salon chains to open independent businesses, the gap became clear. These entrepreneurs weren’t failing because of talent – they were being failed by a system that never prioritized helping them get 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.

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“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 fixes this with what it calls hyperlocal intelligence – a proprietary engine that detects neighborhood-level demand patterns for services like “lymphatic drainage massage” or “glycolic facial” that vary dramatically from block to block. The company’s data shows that demand for “lymphatic drainage massage” can be 3x higher in one part of a city versus another area just miles away, while terms like “glycolic facial” follow entirely different patterns depending on local demographics. Instead of relying on generic keywords or city-wide trends, Zoca builds individualized strategies based on what people are actually searching for within a 5-mile radius and then executes it all automatically using its AI agents workforce.

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