Antbuildz hits S$10m in transactions by facilitating development tools rental

Antbuildz rents heavy automobiles and development tools out to contractors and work websites

Renting a scissor carry or crawler crane would possibly sound worlds other than reserving a vacation or ordering groceries. But, for years, the way in which development corporations sourced tools was nearer to the Nineteen Eighties than the 2020s—characterised by telephone calls, paper quotes, unclear funds, and lengthy waits. For an trade that actually builds trendy skylines, its personal rental processes remained stubbornly analogue.

Antbuildz, a Singapore-based startup, got down to change this. By reworking development tools leases right into a seamless digital expertise, the platform demonstrates how even essentially the most conventional industries will be disrupted.

We spoke with Malaysian founder and CEO Kek Hean Hooi, 38, to grasp how he recognized the hole, constructed Southeast Asia’s first and largest B2B market for development tools rental, and is now getting ready to take it international.

Recognizing a spot in a conventional trade

In at present’s digital age, nearly all the pieces will be achieved on-line, from ordering groceries to reserving flights. But when it got here to development tools leases, the method remained painfully outdated. Quotes usually took days to reach, particulars have been steadily incomplete, and unclear fee strategies led to delayed and even defaulted funds to lenders of heavy equipment.

Recognizing this inefficiency, Kek envisioned a platform that might make renting and promoting development tools seamless, clear, and environment friendly by digitalising a course of that had hardly modified in many years. Day by day, weekly, and month-to-month charges are clearly said, and supply charges by the companion enterprise are clearly said. Every itemizing additionally features a assessment of the proprietor’s historical past of enterprise conduct. Deciding on the dates required for rental immediately generates a citation on web site.

Kek’s profession started as an engineer, with stints throughout the oil and gasoline trade in addition to in market analysis analytics. His final company place was as Undertaking Management Lead at Tiong Woon Company, a heavy carry specialist in Singapore. 

The position gave him each a agency grasp of enterprise operations and a close-up understanding of what prospects wanted when renting heavy tools. After greater than eight years immersed in heavy industries, Kek recognised how outdated the sector’s processes have been. Conventional leases have been gradual, unsystematic, and immune to technological change. Impressed by platforms like Reserving.com and Agoda, he started to ask: Why can’t renting heavy equipment be as easy, quick, and clear as reserving a lodge?

Again in 2020, Kek’s analysis revealed that lower than 1% of development tools leases worldwide have been carried out on-line, highlighting a large alternative. 

Conventional leases required repeated calls, a number of quotations, and sometimes got here with hidden charges, making the method each cumbersome and opaque.

For a couple of 12 months, the thought took form as he mentioned it together with his long-time buddies, Owen Lim and Pouya Pezhman. When his proposal failed to realize traction at Tiong Woon, Kek made the choice to go away in Could 2020 to pursue it full-time, joined by Owen and Pouya, who initially supported operations and product growth earlier than changing into absolutely concerned as co-founders.

Their timing was serendipitous. The COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, and plenty of rental firms reliant on telephone calls or face-to-face conferences struggled to function. Antbuildz offered a digital various at precisely the best second, permitting companies to proceed renting tools with minimal disruption and bodily contact.

From startup struggles to gaining market validation

Profitable belief in a conservative B2B market was by no means going to be simple. Convincing companies to undertake a digital resolution in such a conventional sector required endurance and persistence. Kek remembers lengthy days spent cold-emailing potential shoppers and working focused ads to drive visitors to the platform. The trio invested S$50,000 of their very own financial savings, going with out salaries till August 2020, after they lastly closed their first deal and had their first itemizing. That milestone validated their mannequin and gave them the arrogance to scale.

Antbuildz manages the backend, from analytics to fleet administration, whereas companions give attention to gross sales of their heavy tools.

These improvements have modified the way in which companies understand digital transactions within the heavy tools trade. Companions respect the assured payouts, whereas prospects take pleasure in sooner, extra reasonably priced, and insured leases. Kek emphasised the platform’s affect: “My companions are very completely satisfied as we are able to assure funds, regardless of incomes barely much less per product. The default is a internet zero. We solved a really huge concern within the rental of development tools constructed on camaraderie and credit score.”

By 2025, Antbuildz had grown right into a market with greater than 100,000 rental and gross sales listings and partnerships with over 700 companies. Buyer loyalty was robust, with a 50% recurring price, and three fundraising rounds introduced in a complete of S$700,000.

Innovation, growth, and technique

The crew by no means stopped innovating. In 2023, Antbuildz launched a “purchase” characteristic that allowed companies to buy each new and used tools. “By this purchase/promote plus rental characteristic, we’re recycling sources to be more practical so prospects can discover issues cheaper than they anticipated,” Kek defined.

To guard all events, Antbuildz balanced the wants of each side, guaranteeing payouts for companions, encouraging buyer deposits to cut back defaults, and insuring tools rented as much as S$30,000 by means of a partnership with Hong Leong. Prospects additionally benefited from instantaneous quotations throughout a number of suppliers, reducing resolution instances from days to minutes.

Underlying these improvements was a cautious development technique. From the beginning, Antbuildz relied closely on digital advertising and marketing. Instructional weblog content material not solely knowledgeable companies about rental finest practices and proposals but additionally boosted search engine rankings and attracted natural visitors. The outcomes have been clear: 60% of visitors now comes from search, in comparison with simply 20% from social media.

Then in early 2025, Antbuildz launched a proprietary SaaS webstore—a Shopify-like resolution the place companies may create on-line storefronts with customisable drag-and-drop options and templates. This new product permits Antbuildz to achieve audiences past Singapore and Malaysia.

Notable customers embrace Karcher, Hyster, and Sanway. Curiosity has even come from exterior the heavy tools sector, hinting at broader purposes. Kek described the webstore as “the subsequent ‘in’ factor… an upgraded and extra participating model of an internet site that folks can work together with.”

The corporate additionally started increasing into adjoining classes, together with spare components, automobiles, know-how, and security tools. 

The journey thus far and what’s lies forward

By Could 2025, Antbuildz had surpassed S$10 million in transactions, with authorities companies and academic establishments just like the Constructing and Development Authority (BCA) and the Nationwide College of Singapore (NUS) searching for Antbuildz’s platform for tools rental of their varied tasks. 

To succeed in international audiences, it built-in ChatGPT-powered AI to translate its platform into 20 totally different languages, whereas {the marketplace} is engaged on new AI options to assist prospects search extra effectively and even advocate tools based mostly on particular contexts.

Right now, Antbuildz serves over 5,600 customers with greater than 100,000 listings. For Kek, the journey displays a wider shift in shopper behaviour. “Rental is identical as subscriptions,” he mirrored. “The entire world goes into rental mode. We’re continually altering and creating new issues. If folks don’t convert, it’s as a result of the instruments lack a worth proposition. In that case, we’ve to pivot and discover the best path.”

Wanting forward, Antbuildz plans to increase past Southeast Asia into markets equivalent to Taiwan and Australia.

From its modest beginnings throughout Kek’s company tenure to a multi-million-dollar platform reworking the tools rental trade, Antbuildz demonstrates how persistence, innovation, and know-how can disrupt even essentially the most conventional companies.

What was as soon as a gradual, credit-based course of has now turn into as simple as a couple of clicks—proving that even development tools leases can thrive within the digital age.

• Be taught extra about Antbuildz right here.
• Learn extra articles we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Antbuildz