Spoke recently with a VC backing a battery-electric construction equipment startup that’s quietly acquiring firms in “boring” operational niches like site prep to control deployment and usage. It eliminates the friction of getting novel equipment into the field while capturing margin. Rather than waiting for contractors to spec unfamiliar hardware, they’re buying the contractors.
This is a familiar play. Joby Aviation is building electric aircraft for their own airline. Waymo built a tightly controlled fleet operation to deliver mobility-as-a-service. Deploying autonomous, electric equipment isn’t just about selling, its about guaranteeing outcomes which often requires owning the stack initially.
Private equity is betting that verticalization will unlock innovation while consolidating labor, equipment, and data together into integrated delivery. “Outcome-as-a-service” may be a buzzword, but it is becoming a lever for adoption. The alternatives are limited when trying to sell a $3M robot dozer to a contractor who still faxes in RFIs.
Image: ETF Mining Equipment’s battery-electric haul train (cropped screenshot of company page http://www.etfholding.eu/contracting/). Their innovative trucks are offered as a fully managed, capital-free haulage service under a 10-year integrated contract, to provide high availability and predictable operating costs.