September 14, 2018 | SU News

43North has announced 18 finalists for its 2018 $5 million startup competition. One was created at Syracuse University. SparkCharge founder and CEO Josh Aviv ’14 BA (Econ), G’17, will compete against competitors hailing from across North America in two rounds of live pitching at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo on Oct. 3 for a shot at one of 43North’s eight cash awards, which include a $1 million grand prize and seven awards of $500,000.

The finalists in one of the world’s largest business plan competitions represent top companies in life sciences, B2B tech, consumer products and clean tech/manufacturing. They were selected from 485 applications.

SparkCharge “launched” from the Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University to acceleration stage as part of Techstars in Boston. SparkCharge developed a portable, ultrafast charging unit for electric vehicles that fits in the trunk of a car and charges at level 3 speed, giving users one mile every 60 seconds. Aviv developed and launched the company as a student at SU. R&D operations for the company are based at the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (SyracuseCoE), led by CTO Christopher Ellis and lead systems engineer Richard Whitney.

Read more in the SU News article "Syracuse University Startup SparkCharge is a Finalist in 43North $5 Million Competition."