SparkCharge is trying to get rid of the range anxiety associated with electric cars by giving consumers a way to get a charge on-demand.
The company, which has a deal with AllState and was backed by Shark Tank billionaire Mark Cuban and AOL founder Steve Case, now has $23 million dollars to expand its vehicle charging network, the company said.
Cuban is still backing the company and so is Case's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. Celebrities Pusha-T and Summer Watson are also joining the round as investors try to cash in on the need for better charging options amid skyrocketing EV demand and high oil prices.
SparkCharge has already delivered nearly 100,000 miles of range to electric vehicle owners, according to the company. When the company started distributing its mobile charges a top up would cost roughly 10 cents per mile.
The Currently app that the company uses to deliver charges is on track to deliver millions of miles worth of charge to owners this year -- preventing 85 tons of carbon dioxide pollution, according to a statement.
Most customers are actually topping off at home or at the office, according to a report in Yahoo News, rather than using its service to jumpstart cars.
With the new money, SparkCharge wants to expand to 20 additional markets and develop new mobile charging products, the company said.
"With the growth of the EV industry and the major gaps in charging access, we will be better able to scale our EV network regardless of the infrastructures in place," said Josh Aviv, CEO and Founder of SparkCharge. "The investments will also allow our team to serve markets where no one else can to meet the needs of EV owners and fleets across the country, in major cities and suburbs."
The company already has deals in place with Kia Motors, Hertz, Uber and is currently available in four cities -- Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose.
"SparkCharge is thriving by offering a unique concierge service, while everyone else is pushing the same old, same old self serves," Mark Cuban, the founder of Mark Cuban Companies, said in a statement. "Currently makes charging convenient and accessible to a booming industry, reinvesting in them was an easy decision."
Interestingly, while SparkCharge's initial backers were involved with the round, the investment was led by two relatively new firms that focus exclusively on backing underrepresented founders like Aviv.
"The opportunity to lead SparkCharge's Series A fits squarely within what we want to do at Tale - continue backing underrepresented founders building compelling businesses and investing in compelling and novel businesses that can generate outsized returns and outcomes, while showing the two aren't mutually exclusive," Ed Jean-Louis, Co-founder and Managing Director at Tale Venture Partners. "We saw the makings in 2019 when we made our initial investment in SparkCharge, and the data is even more apparent today. We couldn't be more excited to continue partnering with Josh and the entire team as we revolutionize electric vehicle charging and help accelerate EV adoption."
"At Pendulum, we exclusively invest in founders and leaders of color, especially those we believe are set to transform their industry. The burgeoning demand for SparkCharge's products is a clear indicator of how critical the company's next phase of growth is," said Rish Sinha, Managing Director at Pendulum.