Founder Fridays : Charger Pulse

Entrepreneurship has commonly been associated with the phrase “gap in the market”, and while that may describe how some businesses begin, it does not define every entrepreneur or every business idea.

For Senzo Ngoyi, the starting point was different. His journey into technology began with a determination to build something for himself after spending years in telemarketing and struggling to find work that felt like the right fit.

It was while exploring different business ideas that he came across the EV charging market and began looking more closely at the infrastructure supporting electric vehicles.

What caught his attention was a problem he believed was being overlooked: how operators keep track of charging stations and know when a charger stops working.

That question eventually led to Charger Pulse, a monitoring platform designed to give operators a clearer view of their EV charging infrastructure.

From Telemarketing to Technology

In 2020, Senzo started working in telemarketing, spending roughly four years in call centres, including CCI. He moved between different campaigns but struggled to find work that felt like the right fit.

Over time, he began thinking about what he could build for himself rather than continuing along the same employment path.

That search eventually led Senzo to Outlier, where he worked on training and teaching AI models. The experience also gave him exposure to different AI tools and ways of using technology to identify opportunities for software businesses.

As he explored different sectors, he began researching areas where software could address practical operational problems. After several weeks of looking into different opportunities, he focused on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, an area he saw as having a growing need for better monitoring and management.

Finding a Problem in EV Charging

What caught his attention was not the vehicles themselves, but what happens when the infrastructure supporting them stops working.

EV chargers can come from different manufacturers, with operators often relying on separate systems to manage or monitor them. For fleet managers with multiple charging stations, keeping track of whether every charger is operating can become difficult.

A charger can go offline without the operator immediately knowing. The problem may only become obvious when a driver tries to charge a vehicle, or when the downtime starts affecting operations or revenue.

Senzo saw an opportunity to build software around that problem.

That led to Charger Pulse, a monitoring platform designed to sit on top of EV charging infrastructure and provide operators with a view of charger status.

The platform is built around the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), initially supporting OCPP 1.6, with work underway to support OCPP 2.0 and 2.1. The idea is relatively straightforward. Charger Pulse monitors whether a charger is online, active, faulted or available for charging. When the status changes, the platform can send an email notification to the operator.

More recently, Senzo added a “sites” feature to allow users to monitor multiple charging locations.

Monitoring the Infrastructure Behind Electric Mobility

For now, Senzo is targeting small and medium-sized fleets, with a focus on operators that may not have sophisticated systems for keeping track of their charging infrastructure. Large charging operators are not his immediate focus.

Charger Pulse is also not yet a full central charging management system, or CSMS. At this stage, its main function is monitoring.

That distinction is important to Senzo because conversations with people in the industry have also shown him where the platform needs to go next. Feedback has included requests for features such as a mobile application, a fleet map and additional charging management capabilities.

The longer-term goal is to build Charger Pulse into a more complete system, with monitoring as one part of the platform.

Starting With Smaller Fleets

The focus for now is on smaller and medium-sized operators. Senzo wants to work with operators that may not have sophisticated systems for keeping track of their charging infrastructure, while large global charging networks are not his immediate focus.

He is also looking beyond conventional electric cars.

Senzo is interested in electric bikes and scooters, particularly those used in delivery and last-mile operations, provided the hardware is compatible with OCPP.

That could eventually give Charger Pulse a wider market across different forms of electric mobility.

He has also been speaking to people in China about charging hardware and infrastructure. Part of that work has involved getting equipment into South Africa, including dealing with shipping and customs clearance.

The Challenge of Getting the First Pilot

While the software has been built and is working, Senzo is still looking for his first pilot customer. That is currently one of the biggest milestones for the business.

The challenge now is getting Charger Pulse into a live environment. Senzo needs an operator willing to test the platform on its charging infrastructure, giving him a chance to see how it performs in day-to-day operations and where the product still needs work.

Funding is another challenge. Senzo is looking for investment to cover equipment and further development of the platform. He has applied to the Innovative Africa programme, with the application deadline set for September 30 and a response expected later in the month.

Building Around an Emerging Market

Senzo sees opportunities in South Africa and across the rest of the continent as EV adoption develops.

He believes the availability of charging infrastructure remains a constraint, particularly outside the major markets and cities where electric mobility is gaining attention.

His longer-term ambition is to work more closely with charging hardware companies and potentially partner with an AC/DC charging manufacturer.

The aim would be to combine the hardware infrastructure with Charger Pulse's software and eventually take the offering into more markets across South Africa and Africa.

But getting there will require more than building the platform. The company needs customers, partnerships and funding to move from a working product to something being used at scale.

Building African EV Technology

Over the next 12 to 24 months, Senzo wants to secure funding, integrate Charger Pulse with more charging hardware companies and expand the business. The immediate priority is finding a first pilot customer and proving the platform in a live environment, which will give him the opportunity to learn from how it performs in real-world operations and continue shaping the platform as the EV charging markets develop.

Advice to Other Founders

Senzo's advice to other entrepreneurs is simple: do not give up.

Building a company, particularly without a traditional technical or business background, can come with plenty of doubt and negative feedback.

For him, the answer has been to keep working, block out the noise and continue moving forward.

“Don't give up,” he says. “Block out the negative noise and keep pushing.”

For now, Senzo is still at the early stages of that journey. Charger Pulse has a working product, but the next step is finding the first pilot, securing funding and proving that the problem he identified can become a sustainable business.

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