Founded in 2018 by Joshua Aviv, SparkCharge has closed a Series A-1 funding round of $15.5 million. This funding will support their mission to electrify public and private vehicle fleets with no upfront cost or obligation. Monte’s Fam, an investment collective focused on advancing diverse entrepreneurs, co-led the seed round. It drew in prominent investors for Black companies, including Cleveland Avenue, Collab Capital, Elemental Impact, MarcyPen, and Non-sibi Ventures.
SparkCharge, which became popular during Shark Tank, offers off-grid charging solutions and a whopping 95% of SparkCharge’s customers use their off-grid portable chargers. The young company has aggressively spread its services empirewide, serving all 50 states and even suburban areas of Canada and Mexico. Aviv’s groundbreaking approach frees consumers to get electric vehicles (EVs) now and leave the charging to SparkCharge with the first-of-its-kind mobile EV charging network.
And I know there are a lot of fleets that are saying, “I’m right in the center of America! Or, as one recent report was announcing with great aplomb, “I’m on all the coasts! said Aviv, underscoring the deep market appetite for his company’s services. SparkCharge started out primarily working on mobile EV charging. Now, it has transformed further to address the uniform charging demands of fleets, frequently providing services 24 hours a day.
The company’s pricing model is all about flexibility and catering to customer needs. Charging costs typically range from 35¢ to 60¢ per kilowatt-hour. This way, customers only pay for the kilowatt-hours they need and use. “If a fleet uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours, then they only pay for that 1,000 kilowatt-hours. If they only use five kilowatt-hours, they only pay for five kilowatt-hours,” Aviv explained.
In another example, SparkCharge has partnered with AllState to rescue stranded EV drivers. This collaboration demonstrates SparkCharge’s commitment to advancing the growing electric vehicle ecosystem. This collaboration is an important step within Aviv’s larger vision to help fleets of all kinds conquer the challenges that come with keeping their vehicles in service. “Hey, the cars are here. They’re sitting on the lot. We’ve got no way to service them, no way to charge them. Can you guys help us out?” he noted.
It was Aviv’s firsthand experience with the electric vehicle wave as it was just starting to gain traction that motivated him to start SparkCharge. He recognized that fleet operators have a lot of challenges they face in just kind of charging the vehicles logistically. “Usually these operations are happening 24/7. They want to get these cars charged but back out on the road,” he said.
By delivering a nimble, flexible charging solution, SparkCharge hopes to take the edge off the anxiety for fleet operators who must contend with variable demand. That lets the fleet be super nimble and flexible with how they’re charging their vehicles. If they happen to witness a huge increase, well that’s okay too, right? They’re covered. If they’re doing poorly and not attracting tourists in their low season, then good. They’re covered,” Aviv concluded.
