Charge360 runs a network of shared power bank stations across Nairobi. Customers locate a station via the mobile app, rent a power bank with M-Pesa, and return it at any station on the network. We built the software infrastructure that makes that possible.
The problem
Running a rental hardware network is operationally complex. You need to know the status of every machine — how many banks are available, which slots are occupied, whether the hardware is responding. Without that visibility, operators are flying blind and customers face empty stations.
On top of the hardware layer, you need the complete customer lifecycle: registration, payment, rental tracking, return, and support. And you need all of this to be auditable — every rental, every transaction, every machine event needs a record.
Charge360 had the hardware and the business model. They needed the software to run it.
What we built
We built three interconnected systems. The admin platform gives operators a live view of their fleet: machine locations, slot availability, rental status, and transaction history. Fleet managers can add new machines to the network, configure station parameters, and pull reports without engineering support.
The hardware control layer connects the admin platform to the physical vending machines. It handles the communication protocol, processes rental commands, and records machine events in real time. When a customer initiates a rental, the command goes from the mobile app through the API to the machine and the slot opens — automatically, with a full audit trail.
The consumer mobile app handles the customer side: finding the nearest station on a map, scanning the machine QR code, completing the M-Pesa payment, and tracking the active rental. Returns are handled the same way — scan, return, transaction closed.
What changed
- Fleet scales without engineering work — new machines are added to the network via the admin panel, not a deployment
- Operators see real-time slot availability across all stations without physical checks
- Every rental, payment, and machine event is logged and auditable from day one
- M-Pesa payment and hardware unlock happen in a single automated flow — no manual steps
- Customer support has a complete transaction history for every rental dispute
Charge360 is live at charge360.co.ke