If you have pulled up a California Secretary of State filing recently and seen ZenBusiness Inc. listed as the registered agent, you may have wondered who they are. Unlike the century-old institutions that dominate the registered agent industry — CSC (founded 1899), CT Corporation (founded 1892), Paracorp (founded 1977) — ZenBusiness is a tech startup. A very well-funded one.
Here is what you need to know about the company behind Suite 120 at 2520 Venture Oaks Way.
The Austin Origins
ZenBusiness was founded in 2015 in Austin, Texas by a team of seven co-founders led by CEO Ross Buhrdorf. Buhrdorf’s background is pure Silicon Valley-era tech: he was the founding CTO of HomeAway, the vacation rental marketplace that he helped scale from five engineers to over 200 employees before Expedia acquired it for $3.9 billion in 2015.
The ZenBusiness origin story involves an unexpected pivot. After leaving HomeAway, Buhrdorf was recruited by friends into a project building SEO-optimized websites for law firms. Lawyers proved to be a tough sell. The team pivoted to serving the broader entrepreneur market — helping anyone form, manage, and grow a business. That pivot became ZenBusiness, and the rest is a venture capital success story.
Co-founder Shanaz Hemmati, whom Buhrdorf met during their time together at Excite.com (one of the original internet portals), rounds out the founding leadership alongside James Glancy, Ryan Pitylak, Alex Victoria, Courtney Dickey, and Rafael Lopez.
A Public Benefit Corporation
One detail that separates ZenBusiness from most registered agents: it is structured as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). A PBC is a for-profit corporation that includes a stated public benefit in its charter. For ZenBusiness, that benefit is “to promote entrepreneurship by providing accessible products and responsive support.”
Most registered agents are either traditional C-corporations (CSC, CT Corporation) or employee-owned (Paracorp). The PBC designation puts ZenBusiness in a small category of mission-driven companies in the corporate services space.
Mark Cuban and $275 Million in Funding
ZenBusiness has raised $275 million in total funding across five rounds:
• $50K accelerator round (May 2016)
• $4.5M seed led by Lerer Hippeau (February 2018)
• $15M Series A led by Greycroft (September 2019)
• $55M Series B led by Cathay Innovation (November 2020)
• $200M Series C led by SoftBank, with participation from Mark Cuban (November 2021)
That Series C valued ZenBusiness at $1.7 billion, earning it unicorn status and making it one of Austin’s most valuable private companies.
Mark Cuban is not just an investor. He serves as a spokesperson for ZenBusiness, has appeared alongside SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman at SXSW events on their behalf, and uses ZenBusiness tools with his own companies. No other registered agent in Sacramento — or anywhere — can claim a Shark Tank billionaire as its public advocate.
850,000 Businesses and Counting
ZenBusiness reports having formed over 850,000 businesses as of 2025-2026, with revenue reaching $150 million in 2024 (up from $115 million in 2023). At peak growth, the company was adding approximately 15,000 new customers per month.
The core product is business formation — helping entrepreneurs file LLCs and corporations in all 50 states, starting at $0 plus state fees. The registered agent service is an add-on, priced at $99 for the first year and $199 per year on renewal.
How ZenBusiness Became a Sacramento Registered Agent
ZenBusiness is designated under California Corporations Code Section 1505 as a registered agent authorized to accept service of process on behalf of California entities. Their Sacramento office is located at 2520 Venture Oaks Way, Suite 120, Sacramento, CA 95833 — a Class A office building called Gateway Oaks IV, managed by Basin Street Properties.
The office sits in Sacramento’s South Natomas submarket, just 4.7 miles from the State Capitol. ZenBusiness highlights this proximity as an advantage: when the Secretary of State’s electronic filing systems go down, their staff can make the short drive to file documents manually.
For process servers, the address is straightforward. The building features a granite and glass facade, an upscale lobby with brown leather seating, stone flooring, and modern art. A digital directory touchscreen in the lobby — branded with the Basin Street Properties logo — lists tenants by suite. Suite 120 is on the ground floor, marked by a wall-mounted plaque with a distinctive copper accent strip reading “ZenBusiness Inc.”
What This Means for Process Servers
If you need to serve a company that has designated ZenBusiness as its registered agent in California, all service goes to Suite 120 at 2520 Venture Oaks Way. ZenBusiness maintains staff during normal business hours (9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday) to accept service of process as required by their 1505 designation.
We serve ZenBusiness regularly. Their Venture Oaks office is in the same South Natomas corridor as CSC (2710 Gateway Oaks Drive) and Paracorp (2804 Gateway Oaks Drive) — three major registered agents within a half-mile radius. For more on how we handle service at ZenBusiness, see our ZenBusiness service page.
Standard Service (10 business days): $99
Expedited Service (3 business days): $150
Rush Service (24 hours): $175
Court Filing Add-On: +$30
