Dubai-based heavy equipment rental marketplace Tenderd raises $5.8 million seed from Y Combinator, BECO, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel & others

Dubai-based heavy equipment renal marketplace for the construction industry has raised $5.8 million in what it’s calling the largest ever seed funding round of MENA from some of the leading investors of Silicon Valley and the region. The round is led by Y Combinator and BECO Capital and joined by Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, VentureSouq, SOMA, Dynamo, and Global Founders Capital.

Founded by Arjun Mohan last year who started the company because of not being able to find equipment for his family’s construction business, Tenderd allows equipment owners to list their equipment on the platform to reduce idle time, increase overall fleet utilization and generate consistent revenue and contractors to access a fleet of over 3000 equipment for rent which includes dozers, excavators, cranes, rollers, trucks and more.

The startup shortly after it was founded last year was accepted in Y Combinator’s prestigious accelerator program – one of the very few startups from MENA to have achieved this.

Tenderd now claims to have become the largest heavy equipment rental marketplace in MENA in one year of its operations. The website of the startup does not have any details about the markets of the region Tenderd is active in.

Arjun Mohan, Founder of Tenderd, commenting on the occasion, said, “We’re a startup run by a small, tight-knit team tackling a large and exciting problem. The construction industry has always lagged in adopting technology. However, our clients are increasingly more receptive to solutions that will help increase productivity and reduce capital investments. Our goal is to combine the efficiencies of a marketplace with the latest technologies to help them better compete.”

Yousef Hammad, a Managing Partner with BECO Capital, said, “It is very exciting to see a company from the MENA region taking on a world-class challenge head-on. Arjun and the team at Tenderd are ambitious dreamers and capable executors, the make-up of a great team.”

Adora Cheung, a Partner with Y Combinator, added, “With the growing need for dependable equipment delivered quickly and reliably, our investment will help Tenderd offer contractors an efficient way to rent and manage high-quality equipment for any construction project.”

Tenderd’s platform also comes with a tracking system (that it says is powered by AI) that allows contractors to increase overall equipment productivity and track and regulate emissions to run equipment in a sustainable way.

The startup plans to use the investment to support its exponential growth.