From Syracuse Dorm Room to 50 States: How Josh Aviv Built SparkCharge

One comment in a college classroom in 2014 set Josh Aviv's whole career in motion.

An economics professor at Syracuse University told students that if they wanted to solve a huge problem, they should solve the infrastructure problem for electric vehicles. Aviv, who was studying economics, ran with it. With help from the school's Blackstone Launchpad incubator, he started building a business plan from his dorm room.

His question was simple: why do drivers have to go find a charger? Why not bring the charge to the car? That became SparkCharge, launched in 2017 with a portable fast charger called the Roadie and an on-demand app. Aviv and co-founder Chris Ellis later took the idea to Shark Tank and walked away with a $1 million deal from Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner.

The money kept coming because the idea kept proving out:

• 2022: a $23 million Series A co-led by Tale Venture Partners and Pendulum, later extended to about $30 million with $7 million from Cleveland Avenue
• May 2025: $30.5 million, made up of a $15.5 million Series A-1 led by Monte's Fam and a $15 million venture loan from Horizon Technology Finance

The company has shifted its focus to fleets. SparkCharge now sells mobile, off-grid DC fast charging, from 80 to 300 kW, that can be deployed instantly with no grid hookup. Companies don't have to wait on a utility upgrade before their electric vehicles can roll. A turnkey path leads from mobile charging to permanent infrastructure when a site is ready. The network is live in all 50 states, and its partners include Hertz, AAA, Amazon, Uber, and Kia. The new funding is aimed at growth across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

Aviv has been open about the grind behind the headlines. He has said one lesson he took to heart was simple: manage your cash flow. He built the company from a one-person dorm room operation into a team of around 40 by early 2022, and at that time his team was expanding its manufacturing plant in Buffalo, New York.

Here's what I take from his story:

• Hear a problem someone else walks past, then own it.
• Hardware is hard, but it creates real jobs: manufacturing, technicians, drivers, operations.
• Follow the customer who can't wait. For SparkCharge, that's the fleet.

A Black founder building physical infrastructure for a market still being written is exactly the kind of story we want to keep telling at IndeedBlack.

Learn more at sparkcharge.io. Joshua Aviv is the founder and CEO.