Electric vehicles are on the rise, and owners are worried about running out of juice on the road. No worries, because SparkCharge has created Roadie, the first portable charger for electric vehicles. Founders Chris Ellis and Josh Aviv pitched the product on Shark Tank and landed a deal with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. As of 2024, SparkCharge has a market cap of $110 million.
Founder
Chris Ellis is from Boston, Massachusetts and holds two Associate’s Degrees in Engineering Science from Onondaga Community College. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego.
Joshua Aviv is from Somerville, Massachusetts, and earned his Associate of Arts degree from Richland College. He then attended Syracuse University to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Master of Arts degree in Information Management.
Building SparkCharge
As Aviv and his professor sat in their college dorm room, they asked themselves what would happen if an electric car ran out of power in the middle of nowhere. Josh founded SparkCharge in 2017 to solve this problem.
Chris Ellis was hired as the startup’s chief technology officer, and together they developed the world’s first mobile charging tool for electric vehicles, which they named Roadie.
The Roadie quickly became popular because it could charge a mile in one minute. The two gentlemen raised $3 million from venture capital firms and $2 million from grants. By 2020, the company is expected to make $1 million.
Shark Tank Appearance
SparkCharge appeared on Shark Tank Season 12, seeking $1 million for a 6% stake. Chris and Josh’s company was struggling to keep up with booming market demand and needed to scale up production.
Only 50 were made and given to roadside shops. No consumer models were available. It was clear that this product could do much better in terms of sales.
Daymond John quit early because he knew nothing about the industry. Lowry felt the same way, but he couldn’t miss this opportunity. Lowry teamed up with Cuban and reached an agreement to acquire 10% equity and 4% consulting shares for $1 million.
After Shark Tank
The deal with Mark and Lori was completed after the episode aired. SparkCharge’s appearance on Shark Tank also caught the attention of other investors.
In 2022, the company raised a whopping $30 million in a Series A round led by Pendulum and Tale Venture Partners. They also received investments from Silicon Valley Bank and Cleveland Avenue, as well as celebrities like Summer Watson and Pusha T.
SparkCharge is slowly expanding its footprint and is currently available in San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Jose. The company announced in August 2022 that it will be launching on-demand service in 12 new cities in California. The service currently supports 382 cities by 2024.
SparkCharge is now the industry leader in the space and has single-handedly created Charging as a Service (CaaS). They are growing rapidly and are looking to hire more engineers. At some point in the future, if SparkCharge is not profitable, it will need to go public. The business has an estimated annual revenue of $5 million to $8 million.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: dut.edu.vn
