We’re honored and humbled to announce that Ethan Glass and Nate Dunning, co-founders of Ocra, have been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 2025 in the Transportation & Mobility category.
In 2019, while they were soccer teammates at Occidental College, Glass and Dunning began day-leasing spaces for parking during events at the L.A. Coliseum.
Listing inventory on third-party reservation channels like SpotHero and ParkWhiz for consumers to book ahead of time boosted revenue, but managing it was labor-intensive, so they developed software to centralize rate and inventory management across multiple channels.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they reached out to 3000+ parking professionals to validate the fragmentation problem and ascertain product market fit.
As a result of these conversations, they pivoted to turn their system into a SaaS platform for omni-channel rate and inventory management, powered by sophisticated custom APIs built and maintained by Ocra.
Today, Ocra is a true agnostic partner to 50+ parking operators and asset owners and numerous demand channels including SpotHero, ParkWhiz, and more.
The software is live at 600+ locations with 50+ operator partners, with $120mm in GMV and 2.9mm transactions projected to flow through it this year.
Ocra CoPilot, Ocra’s revenue management division, uses internal expertise and data to grow NOI for asset owners without extra labor. For one hotel partner, MCR, Ocra generated $3.4m in gross sales and $2.5m in incremental NOI in 2023.
Ocra has raised $4.8 million from backers including MCR and Parker Technology.
Glass and Dunning believe that facilitating the open flow of data between parking technologies is prerequisite to unlocking opportunities with industries like transportation, mobility, hospitality, and real estate that have undergone similar transformations.
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.”
Ethan Glass, CEO & Co-Founder, Ocra
What was your first job?
Being raised in a small Midwestern family business selling office supplies, I was fortunate to gain work experience and be surrounded with hardworking, humble entrepreneurs from as young as grade school.
From moving boxes in a warehouse to selling staplers, I was able to learn early on the importance of working on the ground level. Once I could get a workers permit, I worked as a pool attendant at the local park district.
What’s the worst advice you have ever received?
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I experienced a founders dilemma: choosing between a stable, high-growth, job opportunity or investing my savings into Ocra while living on the lowest means possible.
Many implored me to take the safer route and only work on Ocra as a side job. Instead, I chose to take a leap of faith and forego “the bird in the hand”.
When the company was almost dead, those words rang through my head and caused significant self doubt. To build a company, sacrifice and being all-in is essential.
What is the biggest myth about Millennials, Gen Z or Gen X?
A big myth that I’d like to dispel is that a person’s generational label is a negative. Often, someone’s weakness can truly be a strength and visa versa.
For instance, a myth about Gen Z is that they are glued to their phones. Instead of viewing this as a negative, Gen Z-ers can change the narrative for others to see the positives such as global connectivity, tech-savviness, and abundance of online learning materials.
What is your greatest achievement?
Building a flourishing technology startup after surviving multiple pivots is easily beat out by building a flourishing team culture.
Winning and losing have always meant the most to me when doing it with others. My passion for playing soccer is certainly a foundational part of that mentality. My most vivid memories on the field are celebrating success with my teammates.
As a remote team, it can be difficult to build meaningful relationships, but each member of our team makes a conscious effort to contribute to our culture.
Nate Dunning, Co-Founder, Ocra
What was your first job?
My first job was working at an artificial intelligence company called Afiniti. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, that experience sparked my passion for building meaningful solutions to very difficult problems.
What’s the worst advice you have ever received?
That anything in extremes is unhealthy. I couldn’t disagree more with that sentiment.
Many different people have told me that I care too much, or that my myopic focus on certain things will lead me down a dark path; however, I truly believe that all great things are at the edges of healthy obsessions.
I don’t believe I am uniquely talented or special. I believe the reason why I’ve gotten to where I am in life is due to my laser focus on things that I deem productive.
What is the biggest myth about Millennials, Gen Z or Gen X?
The biggest myth about Gen Z is that we are “lazy”. The vast majority of us are not lazy but rather seeking purpose. Being on the older side of Gen Z, I feel fortunate to have found my purpose early.
I believe that in time, with the right leadership, we will flip this narrative, because Gen Z is well-equipped to create positive outcomes from new technologies.
Our values of innovation and adaptability align well with the benefits of AI, positioning us to make significant contributions to the future.
What is your greatest achievement?
Finding product market fit during COVID, when the state of the parking industry was unstable and the odds of succeeding were at their lowest.
By 2020, we finally had traction on our event parking arbitrage model after a year of no progress while surviving on practically nothing. Then COVID shut down events. Demand vanished.
It was the toughest spot I’ve ever been in. I don’t know how I kept a cool head.
But we managed to use adversity to our advantage and find product market fit as a B2B SaaS company solving problems we faced as operators.
Want to learn more about Ocra’s people, platform, and vision for the future of parking? Connect with Ethan Glass and Nate Dunning on LinkedIn, join the Ocra LinkedIn community, or email info@getocra.com.
