Getable, a leading provider of online equipment rental reservations, last week unveiled a new product offering aimed at the tool and equipment rental category. The mobile-first solution is geared toward general contractors and the businesses from which they rent construction equipment.
Currently in pre-alpha mode while the team works closely with early partners on product development, Getable’s new construction rental application is a mobile application for contractors designed for iPhone and will offer complete equipment management on and off the jobsite. This includes initiating new reservations, requesting service and maintenance, scheduling pick-up, and viewing what’s on the jobsite at any given time.
Getable’s application is designed to establish a real-time connection between rental merchants and their customers.
“It’s a nightmare for construction professionals to get equipment on and off jobsites and their time is money,” said Kevin Halter, co-founder and vice president of business development at Getable. “We provide these professionals with a remote control for equipment management. Getable reduces the cost of building projects and improves the lives of general contractors and equipment professionals.”
With more than10 million general contractors across the United States, the tool and equipment category represents $32 billion and is projected to reach $46 billion by 2016, Getable noted. To date, Getable has served the $85 billion equipment rental market with customers spanning across tool rental, party rental, sporting rental and other rental businesses. Responding to the strongest traction seen on the platform, the company is now focusing on solving the inefficiencies in the tool and equipment rental category through modern technology.
In related news, Getable has hired Mikeal Rogers as its new chief technology officer. Rogers has a long history in technology, holding positions at OSAF, Mozilla, CouchOne and Yammer, in addition to founding his own startup, Gather. Rogers brings extensive expertise in how to build superior products that meet the demands of mobile, transactional and real-time communication challenges. Best known for his involvement in the node.js community through events like his annual NodeConf, Rogers sees the opportunity for technology to disrupt the construction rental category.
“Opportunities this big don’t come along very often and Getable is well positioned to do something great,” Rogers said. “Construction represents the first mobile workforce and I can’t believe they don’t have great mobile products to help them manage such a key component of their job.”
In addition, Getable recently closed a second financing totaling $1.8 million, bringing the total funding for the company to $3.2 million. Notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Founder Collective, Promus Ventures and Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital, an investor in similar two-sided networks like Uber and StyleSeat. Getable plans to put these funds toward building an engineering team to solve the inefficiencies in the tool and equipment rental category.
San Francisco-based Getable launched in 2010 to connect people with their favorite products on-demand from trusted rental establishments. It now serves the $32 billion construction rental market with mobile tools designed for construction professionals and rental equipment providers. For more information, visit www.getable.com.
