BOSTON, Massachusetts — Levon Gasparian is a tech entrepreneur and the founder of several successful information technology brands generating over half a billion in sales. He recently joined the exclusive group of American University of Armenia’s (AUA) 200 ChangeMakers. But before all the success, there was 13-year-old Levon, riding a bus from the center of Yerevan to Kievian Street, passing the AUA Building almost every day on his way home.
“I always dreamed that one day, I would study at AUA. I obviously did not have that chance as we moved to the United States, but I will always remember that,” Gasparian recalled.
Growing up in Yerevan during the early 1990s was not easy. War, blockade, and economic uncertainty redefined the childhood of many from his generation. There was no electricity, no heating, and schools were closed for the winter. During their free time, Levon and a group of his friends in the neighborhood started selling different items on the street.
“We were making more than our parents at that time,” he said. “Word spread fast, and before long, everyone in our building was handing us items to sell. We would mark them up, keep the difference, give our neighbors their share. You could say it was the first Armenian Amazon.” This success sparked Levon’s passion for business and commerce.
In 1995, Gasparian’s family immigrated to Boston, home to one of the oldest Armenian communities in the United States. “Having a strong Armenian identity made it harder to integrate into the United States, at least back in the 1990s. But being proud of our heritage, history, religion, and language gave me the confidence and strength to achieve my goals,” he said. “It’s one of those things that you feel inside, and it gives you strength and confidence and a sense of not giving up because of what our people have endured in the past.”
Levon was born into a family of doctors and scientists. Clark University’s degree in biology, in which he majored, seemed like the natural continuation of his family’s scientific lineage. However, somewhere between the lectures and the lab work, he realized his heart was not in it, and business and entrepreneurship were his true passions.
Gasparian finished the biology degree, and instead of medical school, he took a year off, started his first company with a high school friend, and never went back. An MBA at Babson College formalized his business path. What came after were EntityCheck, PropertyChecker, GoodCar, three service brands under Infopay Inc., a company built on a single idea: people deserve clear access to the information that shapes their decisions, whether it is checking up a vehicle’s history or looking up property records on a house a person is buying.
For AUA students thinking of building a career in tech, Gasparian offers his advice: “The first thing is patience. Rushing with a tech company never works out, even though having a fast pace is always helpful. I do not have a technology background, however, having that scientific way of thinking always helped me in running a tech company. Making decisions based on data and staying organized are also key to being successful. Whether it’s keeping files organized by folders or keeping your inbox at zero, it all adds up and makes your day/week much easier but also sets a tone in your organization, so others follow your example. Another important thing is to never overengineer when it comes to consumer tech but also B2B. Simplicity is what is effective and resonates with people: Blackberry vs iPhone is a perfect example.”
Gasparian traces his decision to become a donor to the fact that AUA is one of the earliest Western-style educational institutions in Armenia. “I believe that AUA has been instrumental in what we see today in Armenia with a very strong tech sector and youth that is very educated, hungry for big achievements and driven,” he said. What matters most to him is that his support reaches students with financial need and remote areas who might otherwise never set foot on a campus like AUA.
His hopes for Armenia reflect his own career: more startups, more risk takers, and a university willing to function like an accelerator, connecting young entrepreneurs to funding, mentorship, and a global network that does not require them to leave Armenia to find it. “Education is the most important investment for any country, especially for Armenia where we do not have any natural resources. People are our capital,” he remarked.
Gasparian’s belief in education changed the course of his life, and he wants to make sure it can do the same for another young person who might still be riding a bus past the AUA Building, while dreaming of becoming a student there one day.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values. AUA’s Office of Advancement stewards the University’s philanthropic efforts exclusively for educational purposes.