On January 26, 2026, Mark Gilbert and Ákos Ratku, the co-founders of the startup Zocks, achieved a major milestone by securing $45 million in Series B funding.

This round was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED Investors, with participation from existing backers like Motive Ventures. The funding highlights the rapid growth of their vertical-specific AI platform, which automates administrative tasks and compliance for financial advisors.

• Mark Gilbert (CEO): Recognized for his product vision, formerly at Twilio and Microsoft.

• Ákos Ratku (CTO): Recognized for his engineering leadership, formerly at Hearsay Systems.

Tagline

"Securing the Future of Financial Advice: A $45M Vote of Confidence for Vertical AI."

Sources

• Crunchbase News: Exclusive: Zocks Raises $45M Series B From Lightspeed, QED For AI Assistant To Financial Advisers

• The Recursive: Top Funding Rounds Raised by Hungarian Startups in 2025 (Mentions Zocks' Jan 2026 news)

• Zocks Official: Zocks Raises $45M Series B to Accelerate AI-Powered Automation

Context: What did they build?

Gilbert and Ratku founded Zocks to solve a specific "productivity vs. compliance" problem in the financial sector. Their platform uses "agentic AI" to:

1. Transcribe & Analyze: Listen to client meetings securely.

2. Ensure Compliance: Automatically flag risks and ensure regulatory adherence (critical in finance).

3. Automate CRM: Update client records without manual data entry.

   Sources

   • Crunchbase News: Exclusive: Zocks Raises $45M Series B From Lightspeed, QED For AI Assistant To Financial Advisers

   • The Recursive: Top Funding Rounds Raised by Hungarian Startups in 2025 (Mentions Zocks' Jan 2026 news)

   • Zocks Official: Zocks Raises $45M Series B to Accelerate AI-Powered Automation