This April we celebrated the graduation of Berk Ozel from The Cooper Project, our business incubator for early-stage tech founders. Berk’s time on the project has seen him learn some important lessons and make fundamental changes to how he approaches work; he's also been a big supporter and contributor to his fellow Coopers. So, we’re thrilled that although his time on the incubator has come to an end, he’ll continue to be part of the STP community as a co-worker.

Berk joined The Cooper Project with a startup idea that will solve a personal frustration: the challenge of finding reliable electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. With over a decade of experience in the IT sector as a software developer and team leader — and after founding four other startups — Berk had the tech skills and entrepreneurial spirit, but wanted to understand how to scale a company successfully in the UK.

Hi startup, EV Chargewise, is a solution inspired by his own experiences as an EV driver. Although he had already started working on the idea before joining Cooper, it had been paused due to competing priorities and resource challenges. His time on the incubator reignited that momentum.

“On Cooper, I met people who helped me transform my idea into a product,” Berk shared during his final Cooper graduation presentation. “This experience has been about learning to prioritise what really matters — and that I don’t have to do everything myself.”

Throughout the programme, Berk developed a BETA version of EV Chargewise and began testing it with early users. The data collected is now being used to train machine learning algorithms that will make the app even smarter. But beyond the product, Berk says the biggest changes have been to his approach to running a startup:

• Building the right team: He learned how to identify where others can contribute, make key hires and trust employees to take ownership - this includes letting them learn from their own mistakes.
   

• Accountability and structure: Cooper’s schedule of weekly check-ins, peer support, and goal-setting gave him the structure he needed to stay focused.
   

• Confidence and perspective: Regular pitch practice and feedback from a diverse community of founders helped him improve his storytelling and gain fresh insights beyond his existing network.

In his final presentation, Berk thanked his fellow Cooper founders for their support, Emma Marshall for guiding him through the process, and the wider STP team for making it all possible.

Looking ahead, Berk isn’t slowing down. He’s secured funding for two research projects in Turkey, which will complement his continued development of EV Chargewise. His goal is to refine the product based on real user feedback and differentiate it from other solutions on the market.

“I’m excited to stay a part of this amazing community and continue contributing to the journeys of other founders in Sheffield,” Berk said.

We’re equally excited to keep seeing Berk around STP, and we know his story will inspire existing and future founders on The Cooper Project.