The Daily Orange is a nonprofit newsroom that receives no funding from Syracuse University. Consider donating today to support our mission.

Josh Aviv started SparkCharge, an electric car charging company, in his dorm room at Syracuse University. Last Friday, Aviv appeared on the season 12 premiere of Shark Tank, where he landed a $1 million deal with sharks Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban.

Aviv, who completed his undergraduate degree in 2015 and master’s degree in 2017, worked with Blackstone LaunchPad to launch the startup. He is now the CEO and founder of SparkCharge, a company that offers portable charging stations for electric vehicles that allow vehicle owners to charge their cars anytime and anywhere they want.

Although his company has its offices in Buffalo and Somerville, Massachusetts, Aviv remains connected to the LaunchPad community. He is an entrepreneur in residence at LaunchPad, and when he comes to Syracuse, he typically works from the space in Bird Library, he said. Also, Linda Hartsock, the executive director of Blackstone LaunchPad and Techstars at SU, serves as “one of his No. 1 mentors,” Aviv said.

“I remember coming into LaunchPad looking to work on my business,” Aviv said. “Linda was really amazing in terms of the advice and help that she had given to other startups in Syracuse, and I was really excited to work with her.”

Aviv had the idea for SparkCharge after taking an environmental economics class and meeting with his professor to talk about the potential electric vehicles have to change the world.

Aviv is the CEO of SparkCharge, which has offices in Buffalo and Somerville, Massachusetts.Courtesy of SparkCharge

He came up with the concept SparkCharge and then co-founded the company with Christopher Ellis and Richard Whitney, who both graduated from Onondaga Community College.

Aviv practically “lived in LaunchPad” during his four years at SU, Hartsock said. Last Friday, Aviv served as a judge at LaunchPad’s ‘Cuse Tank competition, which featured 20 teams and several other judges. At the event, Aviv shared advice with students who are beginning the process of launching their startups.

“It says a lot about his commitment to Syracuse University that, on one of the biggest, most important days of his life, he carved out that amount of time to join us for that,” Hartsock said. “It shows you that he really does respect and admire and give back to other young student startups along the way.”

Hartsock and Sam Hollander, an SU junior and LaunchPad Rubin Family Innovation Mentor, hosted a Zoom watch party for the Shark Tank episode on Friday night. Both students who are currently involved with LaunchPad and LaunchPad alumni attended the event.

During the season 12 premiere, two of the sharks, Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban, decided to invest in SparkCharge. The final deal was a one million dollar investment for 10% equity.

“With the power of Lori and Mark, SparkCharge is now fully charged to take over the world,” Aviv said during the TV segment after making the deal.

There’s a lot that happens behind the scenes, and what’s shown in the Shark Tank segment is a small part of a conversation with the sharks that lasts hours, Hartsock said. Aviv has had four years of prep for his Shark Tank pitch, participating in many pitch competitions over the years and winning most, if not all, of them.

Aviv decided to participate in an open call audition for Shark Tank when he was presenting a panel about student startups for Blackstone and Techstars at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Hartsock recalls talking to Aviv while he was waiting in line for the audition.

“He’s always had his eye on the prize and the biggest, most famous, most followed competition,” Hartsock said.

After the open call audition came a lengthy process that involved a series of competitive application rounds and application video submissions.

Aviv’s pitch to the sharks was filmed in Las Vegas in August. He said watching the premiere of the episode on Friday was one of the highlights of his career as an entrepreneur.

“We were really joyful to walk away with a deal,” Aviv said. “Not every company that goes into Shark Tank walks out with a deal, and so we feel very fortunate that we were able to walk out with a deal.”

Hollander said that watching Aviv on Shark Tank was a proud moment for the SU community. It was time for the community to come together and celebrate a company that was born out of LaunchPad, he said.

“He really is an inspiration to other student startups that you can come up with an idea in the classroom or a dorm room and take it to the biggest boardroom of all — the sharks,” Hartsock said.

Published on October 21, 2020 at 9:05 pm

Contact Mandy: [email protected] | @MandyKraynak