By Ty Findley, Co-Founder & General Partner
The $2T US construction industry is still largely operating on legacy software built decades ago. While some segments of this large and consequential industry have modernized including front office workers (through eCommerce tools), back office employees (through AP and payment platforms), and fleet operators (through the use of telematics), the $80B+ heavy equipment rental industry has been stuck with legacy systems intended for a very different market, operating environment, and set of user expectations than the modern AI world we are rapidly moving into.
Without a modern software stack, equipment rental businesses and dealers have left money on the table, stymied by the constraints of running a thriving enterprise when the most powerful tools available for your industry resemble legacy databases requiring manual data entry and non AI-native dated systems lacking automated workflows. All of this at a time when we’re seeing unprecedent demand for large scale built world projects (US data center construction spending could reach as high as $100B in 2026 alone, a nearly 800% increase from 2022), the heavy equipment rental market is worth attention. Before any dirt gets moved, a contractor needs equipment to move it, and that is why upgrading heavy equipment rental back-office systems is an innovation imperative and significant investment opportunity, both for facilitating more (and cheaper) physical infrastructure builds and growing the bottom line for equipment rental companies and dealers.
Enter Moab, a modern operating system purpose-built for equipment rental and dealership businesses. Designed for mid-market and enterprise operators, Moab replaces legacy ERP systems with a sophisticated platform that supports core workflows across dispatch, billing, accounting, and fleet management. The Moab system is specifically tailored for organizations managing complex fleets that require end-to-end reliability rather than point solutions. Since its launch less than two years ago, Moab is already working with key players in the equipment rental ecosystem including Axis Portable Air, Battlefield Equipment Rental, Texas First Rentals, and National Trench Safety.
“Equipment rental sits at the center of how modern construction works, but the software behind it has not kept up,” said Charles Soll, Co-Founder and CEO of Moab. “We built Moab to replace outdated systems with a modern operating system that reflects how these businesses actually run today.”
Moab was developed by co-founders CEO Charles Soll (an early Product Manager at Uber) and CTO Patrick Anderson (former Head of Core Engineering at Ramp and its 11th employee), two visionary leaders who have impressive product and technical experience in addition to company building expertise from their time at several prominent startups. They bring depth in fintech, marketplaces, and user experience to the equipment rental category – the exact kind of insight and AI-powered capabilities this sector needs to boost efficiency. Charles and Patrick were motivated to apply their tech talent to modernizing the equipment rental industry after observing family members working in heavy industry struggle with outdated tools, limiting their potential to grow and scale. These two technologists were convinced they could create a better way to get business done in this critical part of the construction value chain.
Ironspring Ventures has been among Moab’s earliest supporters, backing the company shortly after formation, and we were proud to participate in the company’s $16M Seed and Series A rounds alongside lead investor Elad Gil. Ramp Co-Founder and CTO Karim Atiyeh and Tidemark Founder Dave Yuan are among Moab’s early investors as well, demonstrating strong conviction behind the startup’s potential to be a breakout vertical, AI-native SaaS company.
“Construction is becoming capital intensive and complex, pushing equipment rental operators to grow. Fragmented systems obstruct our ability to see the full operational picture.” said Peter J. Holt, Co-founder and General Partner at Ironspring Ventures. “Moab is an AI native solution, built from the ground up to give operators maximum leverage as they serve our expanding customer base.”
In less than two years in market, Moab has made rapid technical and commercial progress and is currently on track to manage more than $2.5B in transaction volume annually while overseeing more than $4B of fleet assets in 2027. As capital costs rise and fleets become more specialized, construction firms increasingly rent equipment instead of buying it. To serve this growing market, the equipment rental and dealership market will need more than on-premise infrastructure and workflows that were never designed for modern scale, real-time data, or operational volatility. Moab is rebuilding this core layer from the ground up to deliver live operational insights across the business, and with Moab, heavy equipment rental companies and dealers are equipped with AI-powered tools designed for their exact operational needs to boost volume, efficiency, and revenue.
The company plans to use the new capital to continue investing in product development and to scale its engineering and go to market teams. We’re excited to partner with Charles, Patrick, and the entire Moab team on the journey ahead. Let’s build, Moab!
Visit the Moab website: trymoab.com
