When we navigated our first full pivot in 2019, we weren’t “Ocra” – at least not as the industry knows us today.
We were parking operators trying to solve a frustrating problem: how to manage rates and inventory across multiple fragmented demand channels.
Aggregators, AKA parking OTAs, were an incredible source of revenue for us. But due to the siloed nature of the systems, using multiple channels was making it nearly impossible to scale.
So, we started building the software necessary to solve this problem.
Then the pandemic hit. Like everyone, we had to hit pause and reflect on our market positioning.
During that period, we realized that the pain we experienced wasn’t just ours to carry. We spoke with thousands of parking professionals from all sectors of our industry and learned that they were feeling the chafe of fragmentation, too.
From there, we navigated our most transformative pivot, building the first true revenue management system (RMS) for parking assets.
Fueling the Future of Parking Revenue Management
We began methodically assessing product market fit for our centralized rate and inventory management platform. By 2021, Ocra was a vendor-agnostic B2B SaaS business.
Our bread and butter was partnering with commercial parking operators to help them sell inventory across infinite aggregators without overbooking, leaving money on the table, or overcomplicating their reporting and accounting.
In August 2022, MCR, the third largest hotel owner-operator in North America, started piloting our software suite at three hotels, expanding to 20+ locations within six months.
In addition to deploying the RMS software, we were illuminated by two discoveries:
1) Hotels with parking operators didn’t have a distinct division of labor dedicated to active revenue management.
2) Hotels without parking operators couldn’t simply add parking revenue management to any of their team’s job descriptions.
The solution: Ocra deployed a dedicated Revenue Manager to work hand-in-hand with the parking operator or hotel team member to maximize the output of the software.
We called this approach “Ocra CoPilot“.
In April 2023, MCR activated Ocra CoPilot at three locations already using our software. By year end, we generated $3.4m in additional gross sales and $2.5m in incremental NOI.
Why did it work?
For one, to truly revenue manage, one needs an RMS with channel management capabilities. Ocra spent years developing the software with the leading parking OTAs and parking operators.
Secondly, our approach is unique: we combine our data and “eyes in the sky” insights with the “boots on the ground” expertise of the operator or hotel’s local team to achieve optimum yield.
Today, Ocra’s software is active across hundreds of locations, many of which are a good fit for our sophisticated approach to revenue management and leverage Ocra CoPilot.
In the hotel vertical alone, we’ve delivered $12.3M in incremental revenue in the past six months.
Another Major Milestone: $5 Million in Strategic Capital
Today, I’m proud to share yet another milestone moment.
Ocra has raised $5 million in strategic funding led by Trestle Partners with significant follow-on from MCR, who co-led our last oversubscribed raise of $3.5m alongside Parker Technology.
Raising capital wasn’t part of our 2025 plan.
Ocra entered the year cash-flow breakeven, growing nearly 200% year-over-year, and operating with best-in-class unit economics.
Yet when the right partners came to the table, we chose to raise – not out of necessity, but from a position of strength – to move faster, invest deeper in product and partnerships, and stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving industry.
Strategic Investment to Support the Next Chapter
Trestle Partners, MCR, and our other esteemed investors add far more than capital.
They’re strategic partners who share our vision and are uniquely positioned to support this next chapter of our company’s growth.
Trestle brings deep operational expertise and a strong track record as a professional investor.
MCR, one of the nation’s leading hotel owner-operators, has seen firsthand the bottom-line impact that Ocra delivers for hotel assets.
Both firms have seen our impact in parking, hospitality, and commercial real estate, and they believe in our vision.
This funding allows us to double down in key areas, including:
- Investing in further product development
- Deepening our presence in the hospitality vertical
- Expanding without compromising on quality, culture, or service
The Right Team for the Right Moment
This moment isn’t only about capital; it’s about execution.
To that end, we’re thrilled to welcome Anthony Broad-Crawford as Chief Technology Officer, joining another recent executive hire, Chris Elliston, Chief Revenue Officer.
If you’ve been in parking or mobility, you may know Anthony as “ABC”.
He brings decades of proven experience building award-winning, patent-holding technologies for consumers and businesses, and his leadership at SpotHero, Parkonect, and FLASH has helped shape our industry.
His vision resonates: that AI is the most transformative wave in tech since the internet, and that parking is one of the best industries to apply it in. We couldn’t agree more.
ABC joins a team that’s been heads-down, focused, and execution-driven from Day One.
AI-first revenue management is just the tip of the iceberg.
Onward: A Partner-First Approach
Ocra has evolved substantially over the years, but our mission has always been to unlock the full potential of parking assets.
Here’s what it comes down to:
Parking should be treated as a profit center.
There are many cogs that make up the machine of parking, and each asset is unique.
Ocra is laser-focused on our piece of the pie and we actively create 1 + 1 = 3 relationships so that each parking asset has the best-in-class components to driving success.
With the right team, the right technology, and the right partners alongside us, we’re ready for what’s next – a future of rapid, scalable growth.
We’re grateful for the trust of Trestle Partners, MCR, and our entire community of investors, mentors, and partners.
Thank you for seeing our vision and wanting to be part of it.
If you have questions, or you’d like to catch up, you can reach me at ethan@getocra.com.
Thanks,
Ethan
Ready to learn how Ocra can help you increase NOI through smarter revenue management of your parking assets? Request a meeting or email info@getocra.com.
