Joshua Aviv is founder and CEO of SparkCharge, a company specializing in portable electric vehicle chargers. He launched the startup at Syracuse University, and since graduation has become a dynamic figure in the cleantech community.
As a student, Aviv worked closely with the Blackstone LaunchPad to formulate his product and business roadmap, and he incubated his company after graduation at the Syracuse Center of Excellence (CoE) , where he built his initial prototype.
Funded by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, the LaunchPad at Bird Library is one of only 20 LaunchPad programs around the world. An experiential program for faculty, staff and students from all academic disciplines, it serves as an innovation hub for exploration and discovery. The program offers coaching on ideation and venture creation, helping move concepts through education, ideation, incubation, acceleration and commercialization.
Aviv won the grand prize in the New York Business Plan Competition for his project, as well as top honors in more than seven business competitions. Most recently he won the top prize of $1 million at 43North, a Buffalo, New York-based startup competition, receiving his trophy from New York Lieutenant Governor and Syracuse University alumna Kathy Hochul at the 43North awards ceremony. He was also the recipient of a New York State FuzeHub Commercialization Competition award.
Aviv earned a bachelor’s in economics through the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs . He refined his concept through graduate coursework in information management at the School of Information Studies. While in graduate school, he served as a part-time entrepreneur-in-residence with the Martin J. Whitman School of Management’s Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship. Aviv is a member of the LaunchPad’s Founders Circle and serves as an active mentor for current Syracuse University student startups. As part of the 2019 Orange Central celebration, Aviv returned to his alma mater to share with current students how he built SparkCharge from the ground up, and how the resources at Syracuse can help them realize their entrepreneurial dreams.