Zoca
The AI marketing team for local businesses.
💼 What does it do?
Imagine if your local salon had a marketing team that never sleeps, never takes sick days, and costs less than a part-time employee – that's Zoca.
They've built AI agents that handle the entire customer journey for local service businesses:
• Getting found on Google (hyperlocal SEO that adapts to neighbourhood demand)
• Converting leads instantly (responds to inquiries 24/7)
• Booking appointments (handles scheduling, confirmations, reminders)
• Bringing customers back (retention campaigns based on service history)
Instead of juggling 5+ marketing tools or paying expensive agencies, Zoca allows business owners to focus on running their business.
🧑🚀 About the founder(s)
ABOUT THEM
• Ashish Verma (CEO) - Previously led AI security initiatives at a Fortune 500 company. The kind of guy who understands both enterprise AI and why your corner barbershop can't figure out Facebook ads.
• Robin Chauhan (Co-founder) - Built scalable data platforms at two unicorn startups. Has seen hypergrowth before and knows how to build infrastructure that doesn't break.
THE BACKSTORY
Longtime friends from IIT Kharagpur who noticed a weird disconnect. Local service professionals are incredibly skilled at their craft, but the "growth tools" available are either too complicated, too expensive, or built for entirely different types of businesses.
📊 Pricing and business model
Zoca operates on a commission basis, getting paid only when it successfully delivers bookings for its clients, aligning its incentives directly with business growth outcomes.
🚀 About this space
THE PROBLEM
Most salon / spa owners are experts at cutting hair and giving facials. They're drowning in bloated marketing tools, overpriced agencies, and figuring out why their Google listing isn't showing up.
THE OPPORTUNITY
$750 billion global market. Every neighbourhood has dozens of these businesses. Most are family-owned, cash-flow positive, and desperate for help with the "business side" of business.
ℹ️ Growthbuddy insights
INSIGHT #1
The secret sauce: "Hyperlocal Intelligence" – Their AI doesn't just do generic marketing. It detects neighbourhood-level demand patterns. Example: demand for "lymphatic drainage massage" can be 3x higher in one part of a city vs. another area just miles away. The AI adapts messaging, SEO, and targeting based on micro-local trends.
INSIGHT #2
A business model that works:
• No complicated onboarding or training required
• Replaces 5+ tools and agency fees with one simple platform
• Customers see results in weeks, not months
• High retention because the ROI is obvious (more bookings = more money)
INSIGHT #3
The timing – local businesses have been left behind in the AI revolution. While enterprises get fancy AI tools, your local massage therapist is still manually responding to Google reviews at midnight. Zoca bridges that gap.
💛 Their culture
Based on investor quotes and company messaging, this feels like a "roll up your sleeves" environment. Customer-obsessed, moves fast, values people who can thrive in ambiguous situations. If you need established processes and clear hierarchies, probably not the fit. If you want to build something that matters and don't mind figuring it out as you go, could be perfect.
ℹ️ Career intel
GREEN FLAGS
• Fresh funding with runway: $6M gives them 18+ months to execute without fundraising pressure
• Product-market fit signals: Customer testimonials aren't just positive, they're emotional ("gave me my life back")
• Experienced founders: Fortune 500 + unicorn backgrounds = they've seen this movie before
• Underserved market: Accel estimates a $750B TAM with limited competition in their specific niche
• Real impact: You're not building another enterprise dashboard; you're helping small business owners pay their rent
POTENTIAL CONCERNS
• Hyper-growth phase: Targeting 10x revenue growth in 12-18 months means things change fast
• SMB market complexity: Small business customers can be harder to serve than enterprises
• Competition risk: If this works, bigger players will notice (though they have first-mover advantage)
WHY NOW
AI finally works well enough to automate complex, personalised tasks. What used to require a full marketing team now runs on autopilot.
📝 Interview guidance
Show that you understand the difference between building AI for enterprises vs. small businesses. Bonus points if you have experience with SMB customers or local service industries.
Examples of questions to ask them:
• What's the biggest technical challenge in your hyperlocal intelligence engine?
• How do you see the competitive landscape evolving?
• What does the path to 10x revenue growth look like operationally?
⚡️ Fast facts
FUNDING
$8.8M total ($6M seed from Accel in May 2025)
INVESTORS
Accel (lead), GTMfund, Elevation Capital, Better Capital
THE NUMBERS
• 1,000+ paying customers in under a year
• 120,000+ appointments booked through their platform
• $10M+ in revenue generated for customers
🔎 Overview
WEBSITE
FOUNDING YEAR
2024
INDUSTRY TAGS
B2B, SaaS
HEADQUARTERS
Phoenix, USA, with a significant team presence in Bengaluru, India
TEAM SIZE
50 - 100
COMPANY MISSION
While everyone's building AI agents, two IIT grads are using AI to help local businesses like hair salons, spas, and wellness centres never see an empty chair again.