We Force Local Businesses to Grow:
Our $6M Seed to Build the Inevitable Growth Machine
We started Zoca with a simple observation: The most talented local businesses are drowning because they can't market themselves effectively.
Today, I'm excited to share that we've raised $6 million in funding to solve this problem once and for all. Led by Accel, with participation from Elevation Capital, GTMfund and Better Capital, this round fuels our mission to build something unprecedented: A growth system that doesn't just help local businesses grow—it forces them to grow, whether they have time for marketing or not.
Why "Force" Matters
Let's be honest: Traditional marketing approaches have failed local businesses. They're told to "just post more on Instagram" or "learn SEO basics" or "manage their Google presence." All while trying to deliver exceptional services 60 hours a week.
The result? They stay invisible while bigger competitors with marketing teams steal their customers.
That ends now.
We're not just entering this market – we're storming the beaches. The beauty and wellness space isn't just our target market; it's our battleground. And we're arming the underdog local businesses with weapons that previously only enterprise companies could wield.
Zoca doesn't politely suggest growth strategies. We implement them. We don't offer tools for you to figure out. We deliver guaranteed outcomes. We don't ask business owners to become marketing experts—we force their businesses to grow by handling everything that drives new clients.
The Numbers Don't Lie
Since launch, our approach has already:
- Forced 1,000+ beauty professionals to go from struggling to FULLY BOOKED
- Generated 120,000+ confirmed appointments (real bookings, not just worthless "leads")
- Delivered $10M+ in service revenue straight to local businesses
- Eliminated countless hours previously wasted on ineffective marketing
This isn't just traction – it's a movement. Every salon, spa, and wellness business we equip becomes another position secured in our campaign to transform this industry.
How We Force Growth
For local service businesses, every empty chair is revenue they'll never recover. They don't need another dashboard to interpret. They need their phones ringing and their calendars filled.
Our AI agents are relentless in making this happen:
- They're discovering neighborhood-level demand patterns others completely miss
- They're dominating local search results by optimizing across 50+ ranking factors
- They're converting leads into bookings 24/7, never missing an opportunity
- They're bringing clients back with perfectly-timed campaigns
All running automatically. All working while owners sleep. All forcing their businesses to grow whether they have time for marketing or not.
We're not building software – we're building an autonomous growth army that fights 24/7 for these businesses while they focus on their craft.
The Real Stories
Latasha Seawood, Owner of Slay by Vashae, didn't just see gradual improvement: "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."
She didn't have to become a marketing expert. She didn't have to learn new software. She simply connected with Zoca, and we forced her business to grow.
These victories aren't accidental – they're the inevitable result of our focused, relentless execution in a space we're determined to dominate.
Why This Funding Matters
With this $6 million, we're scaling our inevitable growth machine to thousands more businesses. Because we're not just helping businesses that actively market themselves—we're forcing growth for talented professionals who are too busy delivering great service to think about marketing.
In five years, no local business will compete without an AI growth engine working 24/7 on their behalf. The question isn't whether they'll need this technology—it's whether they'll choose a system that forces them to grow regardless of their marketing expertise.
Because when local businesses are forced to grow, whole communities thrive. Main streets revitalize. Jobs increase. Everyone wins.
We're not just building a company – we're leading a revolution in how local businesses compete and win in an AI era. And we won't stop until we've established complete dominance in the beauty and wellness space.
The Future We're Building
This fundraise isn't just capital—it's rocket fuel for our mission to transform how local businesses grow. While they focus on delivering exceptional services, we'll be in the background, forcing their phones to ring, their calendars to fill, and their revenue to climb.
To every business owner who trusted us early: This is your victory too. You didn't just adopt new software—you pioneered a new era where talented local businesses can't help but succeed.
- Ashish Verma, Co-founder & CEO
P.S. If you're a local business owner tired of marketing solutions that expect YOU to do the work, Zoca is different. We don't give you tools. We force your business to grow.