by Tyler Hale
An Arkansas entrepreneur has been named to Forbes’ latest edition of its 30 Under 30 list.
Charu Thomas, CEO and founder of Oculogx, has been listed as one of the rising young leaders in the manufacturing and industry sector. According to Forbes, the individuals named to this subsection of the 30 Under 30 list are “creating the products, methods and materials of tomorrow.”
Thomas says she’s honored to be named to the Forbes list, but she credits her team for the work that resulted in the recognition. “I’m really honored to be a part of the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. All the credit goes to my absolutely stellar team – nothing would be possible without their incredible work ethic, inventiveness and drive. Go team Oculogx!,” she says.
Oculogx is an augmented reality startup that is focused on personal and online grocery shopping in addition to warehouse order picking. Thomas founded the company while still a student at Georgia Institute of Technology.
A Georgia native, Thomas moved to Bentonville to attend the first Fuel Accelerator, which took place over 16 weeks in 2019. During the accelerator, the Georgia Institute of Technologyalum pivoted from focusing on warehouse order picking to grocery shopping.
Participating in the accelerator provided exposure to multiple Fortune 500 companies as well as facetime with corporate executives. During this time, she made connections and mentors “who are still engaged with our community,” Thomas said in a previous interview with Arkansas Money & Politics. Since the accelerator, Thomas has set the company’s roots down in Northwest Arkansas.
Thomas told Forbes that the company’s clients include Walmart, Google and Newell Brands and that Oculogx’s revenue has the potential to reach $4 million in 2020.
In total, 600 individuals were named to Forbes’ overall 30 Under 30 list. There were 20 categories, ranging from art to venture capital.
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