2024 was a massive year for the Ocra team.
In addition to closing a $3.5m oversubscribed round co-led by Parker Technology & MCR, the third-largest hotel owner/operator in North America, we had much to celebrate.
Just a few highlights in the product realm…
We enhanced our SaaS platform so that parking operators and owners can more easily and effectively manage rates & inventory across multiple demand channels (aggregators) including SpotHero, ParkWhiz, Airport Parking Reservations, & more.
Significantly, this includes our brand new Centralized Reporting dashboard for omnichannel insights – like which channels are “winning”, which verticals are driving revenue, and how much money from online sales that operators can expect to see land in the bank each month.
Ocra also enables passive yield for event assets with our new Event Rate Management functionality, which automates event rate tiering and increases rates across all channels as demand increases.
We also introduced Ocra CoPilot, our managed services offering for asset owners and operators, which uses our team’s internal expertise and data to grow NOI without extra labor.
Some big wins on the team side…
Six incredible professionals chose Ocra for their next career move. We’re now a team of 17, still looking to grow in Q1! (If you’re interested, email us at info@getocra.com.)
Our co-founders Ethan Glass & Nate Dunning were recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30 2025 in the Transportation & Mobility category.
Meagan McKinnon, Director of Operations, & Corey Jennings, Revenue Optimization Manager were named to National Parking Association’s 40 Under 40 for young leaders, joining six of their teammates.
Senior leadership team members Chris Everton (COO), Trae Wallace (VP of Strategy & Analytics), & Sarah Becherer (VP of Marketing) were named to International Parking & Mobility Institute Committees for Technology, Sustainability, and Allyship & Equity, respectfully.
Along with other marketing leaders, Sarah co-founded The Parketing Collective, the parking industry’s first free and open organization for parking marketers (“parketers”) & the “parketing” curious. She was also named to Women in Parking‘s Marketing Advisory Committee.
And that’s just skimming the surface!
Read on for this year’s highlights.
Ocra’s 2024 By The Numbers: Revenue, Team Growth, & More
- $3.5m in funding secured in oversubscribed round led by Parker Technology & MCR
- 110m+ in GMV flowing through the platform (up 44% YoY)
- 2.7m+ transactions flowing through the platform (up 48% YoY)
- 600+ locations using our software
- 50+ Ocra CoPilot managed locations
- 50+ operator/owner partners
- 6 new employees in Sales, CSM, & Operations
- 2 Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees: Co-Founders Ethan Glass & Nate Dunning
- 2 National Parking Association 40 Under 40s inductees: Meagan McKinnon, Director of Operations, & Corey Jennings, Revenue Optimization Manager
- 3 International Parking & Mobility Institute committee members: Chris Everton, COO, Trae Wallace, VP of Strategy & Analytics, & Sarah Becherer, VP of Marketing
- 4 podcast appearances on The Parking Podcast, Harder Than It Looks, & All Things Parking
- 8 articles published in industry trades, including Parking Today, Parking Magazine, and Parking & Mobility magazine
Platform Innovation: Centralized Reporting for Omni-Channel Insights
The newest iteration of Centralized Reporting, released this summer, instantly surfaces insights that otherwise would take operators hours of manual analysis to uncover.
This data is aggregated from multiple demand channels/aggregators, standardized so it’s all in the same language, and centralized in Ocra’s reporting dashboards.
This mean no more digging across multiple platforms for answers to questions like…
- When is a location busiest?
- Which verticals and channels are driving revenue?
- How much money will land in the bank this month based on channel payout date?
Some of the data points included:
- Growth revenue by channel
- Reporting by payout date
- Revenue rollup by vertical
- Occupancy heat map
- New vs. returning customers
- Booking duration fill chart
Ethan Glass & Nate Dunning, Ocra Co-Founders, Named To Forbes 30 Under 30 2025
We’re honored and humbled to announce that Ocra co-founders Ethan Glass and Nate Dunning have been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 2025 in the Transportation & Mobility category!
Ethan and Nate – along with their team, including founding engineer Leo Connelly – built the first iteration of the company (day-lease parking operators around the Los Angeles Coliseum) in 2018 while students and soccer teammates at Occidental College.
With the advent of COVID-19, the team conducted extensive market research to validate product market fit for an internal tool they engineered for themselves as operators to centrally manage rates and inventory across multiple consumer demand channels.
The software is live at 600+ locations with 50+ operator partners, with $110m+ in GMV and 2.7m+ transactions flowing through it this year.
Ocra has raised a total $4.8 million from backers including MCR and Parker Technology.
In Ethan’s words:
“We are very humbled to be recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30. This is most certainly an entire team Ocra recognition and we share it with all of you that have helped shape this company.
We strive to be the rising tide that raises all ships and that is a testament to the community that we have around us. Our team is grateful to Forbes for the recognition and we are only just getting started.”
Ocra Announced Oversubscribed $3.5M Fundraise Led By Parker Technology & MCR
In April 2024, we announced our successful raise of $3.5 million in strategic capital in an oversubscribed round led by Parker Technology, a leading technology-led services company in the parking industry, and MCR Hotels, the third largest hotel owner-operator in the United States.
Every ounce of capital we raise is in the spirit of staying vendor-neutral and supports our vision of being the API layer of the parking industry, and every investor adds tremendous value beyond the capital.
This year, we invested in:
- Driving innovation across product lines
- Growing our team with top tier talent
- Doubling down on our core competencies of demand channel expertise and data-driven revenue optimization for parking assets as offered through our managed services model, Ocra CoPilot
We’re excited for the growth to come!
Platform Update: End-to-End Event Rate Management for Passive Yield of Event Parking Assets
In 2024, we introduced the newest enhancement of our Rate Management functionality, which lets Ocra users set and adjust rates across multiple demand channels, like aggregators, in one app.
Event Rate Management tiers rates for events synchronously, across all channels, to automatically capture higher transaction values as demand for parking increases.
Operators and owners can rely on Ocra to bump prices up to the next tier, across all channels, when a certain percentage of inventory sell.
No more logging into 4 different channels at 3:00am to increase rates when they see demand spike. Passive asset yield, here we come!
Ocra Welcomes New Team Members: Investing Sales, Operations, & Client Success
We know the hustle, we love the industry, and we’re uniquely built to solve the problem.
We strategically grew with six new team members in 2024, including our first two Client Success Managers to nurture partner relationships and our first two Sales Consultants to propel growth.
Meet our newest team members:
- Tanner Fujii, Sales Consultant
Tanner brings a dynamic background in SaaS sales, driven by a passion for aligning the right product with the right customer to unlock real value. With 21 years of experience in combat sports, he is a two-time junior world kickboxing champion with competitive wins in both MMA and Muay Thai. Beyond competing, he has coached many state champions (CO) and guided a fighter to a world title. Tanner is excited to bring his focus, discipline, and results-driven mindset to Ocra.
- Thomas Stintsman, Sales Consultant
Thomas is a seasoned SaaS sales professional with over ten years of experience in driving revenue growth and building strategic client relationships. He has worked with both startups and established tech companies such as SEMrush and GrubHub, consistently exceeding targets and fostering long-term success. Thomas specializes in developing tailored solutions that address complex client needs, leveraging his expertise to build impactful partnerships and support business growth. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, sporting events, and all things food related.
- Aaron Lesser, Sr. Client Success Manager
Aaron has been B2B tech since 2017 focused on maximizing customer value. The companies he’s worked with are in the marketing analytics and user experience sectors. Most recently in his roll as at Sr. Customer Success Manager at FLASH, he gained valuable insights into the parking industry, which he’s eager to apply for Ocra’s partners and clients. Outside of work, you’ll find Aaron running, exploring, and enjoying time with his family and friends.
- Alexander Burnes, Client Success Manager
Alexander is a dynamic SaaS professional with six years of experience spanning sales, marketing, and customer experience. He’s worked with both startups and established tech companies like Salesforce, helping them grow, build key partnerships, and lead teams across the U.S. and internationally. Specializing in complex sales cycles, Alexander excels at creating and implementing strategies that drive success in the fast-changing tech sector. Outside of work, Alexander loves reading, traveling, and spending time outdoors.
Plus two incredible operations contractors:
- Karen Guevara Rosana, Operations Associate
- Harris Matthew Gabor, Operations Associate
MCR Grows Annual Parking Revenue by $3.4m & Incremental NOI By $2.5m In Partnership With Ocra
MCR, the third-largest hotel owner-operator in the United States, massively increased asset value at key locations by selling their excess parking inventory to non-guests with Ocra CoPilot.
In August 2022, MCR piloted Ocra’s software suite for parking demand channel management at 3 hotels, expanding to 20+ hotels within 6 months.
In March 2023, MCR activated Ocra CoPilot at 3 existing locations to layer on a more sophisticated, data-driven approach to yield management.
The results have been nothing short of tremendous: an additional $3.4m in annual parking revenue and $2.5m in incremental NOI.
Meagan McKinnon & Corey Jennings Inducted Into National Parking Association’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2024
We’re enormously proud of our teammates, Meagan McKinnon & Corey Jennings, for their induction into National Parking Association’s 40 Under 40 this year!
Meagan, our Director of Operations, is our team’s metronome with a heart of gold. She keeps us accountable for pace, processes, service level, & attention to detail, and holds us all to the sky-high standards our partners deserve.
As Revenue Optimization Manager, Corey’s impact on the bottom line for the operators, asset owners, & tech partners we work with cannot be underestimated. His strategy & ingenuity truly create 1+1=3 revenue outcomes.
Ocra Thought Leadership in 2024: Articles, Panels, & Podcasts
Throughout 2024, our team had the honor of collaborating on numerous articles, podcasts, blog posts, & panels with industry experts who inspire and challenge us.
We appreciate being generously extended opportunities to highlight our team’s internal expertise and thoughts on leadership, technology, and other topics – but even more so, we’re grateful for the chance to learn from others, and for the partnerships that make it possible to do so.
Check out Ocra’s 2024 editorial recap >>
Ocra Leadership Appointed to International Parking & Mobility Committees for Technology, Sustainability, & Allyship & Equity
We’re honored that three members of our senior leadership team were selected by the International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI) to serve on committees for the 2024–2026 term!
Chris Everton, COO, joins the Technology Committee; Trae Wallace, VP of Strategy & Analytics, joins the Sustainable Mobility Task Force; and Sarah Becherer, VP of Marketing, is thrilled to transfer to the Allyship & Equity Committee.
We’re excited to work across sectors, companies, and geographies to create all-around beneficial outcomes for our industry and everybody in it.
Introducing The Parketing Collective
In March 2024, Sarah Becherer, our VP of Marketing, helped co-found The Parketing Collective.
It’s the industry’s first free and open collective for parking marketers and the “parketing curious”. As of December 2024, it has 75+ active members and a LinkedIn community of nearly 300.
TPC’s mission is to seek out, spotlight, and celebrate the diverse experiences, perspectives, and expertise of passionate “parketing” professionals, all to the end goal of building a future where marketing professionals propel the parking industry forward through shared knowledge.
Sarah co-founded the organization along with Jordan Weiss, VP of Marketing @ Umojo; Heidi Barber, VP of Marketing @ Parker Technology; Joslin Serrano, Business Analyst @ Parkway Corporation; & RJ Juliano, CIO & SVP of Marketing @ Parkway Corporation.
Join The Parketing Collective >>
Follow on LinkedIn >>
Parking professionals of all disciplines, flight levels, industry tenure, and marketing knowledge/experience are welcome!
And that’s a wrap on 2024!
We’re immensely thankful for everything that we learned in 2024 and can’t wait to see what 2025 brings for all of us! To get in touch, send us an email: info@getocra.com.
