Merlin AI

What do they actually do

Merlin AI provides a single cloud ERP tailored to construction—especially modular/offsite builders—that combines estimating, procurement/materials, scheduling, project management/CRM, and finance in one system. The product leans on AI for tasks like generating estimates, converting bills of materials into RFQs/POs via a “Materials Copilot,” AI-assisted scheduling, financial automation, and live dashboards/alerts product pages, platform FAQ.

In practice, teams use Merlin to create quotes with an AI-assisted configurator, turn estimates into supplier RFQs/POs, adjust schedules using live supplier and shop-floor inputs, and feed inspections/contracts into billing and payments. The platform also surfaces real-time dashboards and risk alerts so managers can act before delays or cost overruns escalate platform pages, vendor management blog.

Public signals suggest a live, commercial product: Merlin publishes product pages, a demo/contact flow, and at least one named customer testimonial; YC lists them in the S24 batch. They claim they can replace many point tools, offer one‑week installs, and use customized pricing by vertical. Pricing and scale details (e.g., customer count/ARR) aren’t disclosed publicly beyond marketing claims and limited testimonials site/product pages, platform FAQ, YC listing.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Modular/offsite factory managers and operations leads: They run repeatable, factory-based builds but juggle estimating, procurement, scheduling, and QA across multiple tools, making it hard to turn a BOM into orders and keep the line on schedule.
• Production home builder teams: They need fast, accurate quotes for repeat floorplans; slow or error-prone estimating leads to underpriced bids or time wasted reworking quotes.
• General contractors managing subs and on-site builds: They lose time chasing suppliers and adjusting schedules when delays hit because they lack live, consolidated visibility into supplier and shop-floor status.
• Procurement/supplier managers at builders: They spend heavy time on RFQs, vendor follow-ups, and reconciling POs across systems, leading to missed deliveries and reactive firefighting.
• Finance/project controllers: They reconcile contracts, invoices, and costs across disconnected tools and spreadsheets, slowing billing, obscuring margins, and increasing payment friction.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Run 6–8 week paid pilots with 1–2 modular/offsite manufacturers and production builders, replacing the estimating→procurement→scheduling flow for one repeat product line; lean on the one‑week install to show quick time‑to‑value and measure quoting time and PO cycle-time improvements platform FAQ, estimating/configurator.
• First 50: Turn pilot wins into case studies and structured referrals (including supplier/GC partners), do targeted outbound to ops/procurement leads at similar builders, and host bi‑monthly demos showing Materials Copilot converting BOMs into RFQs/POs; seed a small paid partner program with large suppliers so new prospects see pre‑onboarded vendors vendor management blog, platform FAQ.
• First 100: Productize onboarding with vertical templates, launch a supplier/vendor portal to lock in network effects, and add two channels: certified integrators for larger factories and a lighter SaaS tier for smaller builders; add regional sales hires to close multi‑site deals vendor management blog, platform/product pages.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

The offsite/modular construction industry is large (offsite ~US$172B globally in 2024; modular estimates commonly in the low‑hundreds of billions through 2030) while construction ERP/software spend is smaller but material (ERP ~US$3.4–3.7B; broader construction/design software ~US$11B) ResearchAndMarkets via Yahoo, Precedence, MarketsandMarkets, Grand View, GMI Insights, Credence, Grand View Research, Mordor Intelligence.

Bottom-up calculation:

Starting from ~US$3.5B global construction ERP spend, if offsite/modular accounts for roughly 10–15% of that software spend, Merlin’s immediate SAM is ~US$350–525M; targeting mid‑to‑large factories at $50k–$200k ACV implies $25–$100M ARR at 500 customers ERP market context.

Assumptions:

• Offsite/modular represents ~10–15% of construction software spend globally; offsite remains a minority of total construction activity in many regions NAHB commentary.
• Average Merlin ACV of $50k–$200k per factory depending on modules/seats.
• Near-term targetable customer count of ~500–1,500 modular/offsite builders with repeatable factory workflows.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Procore: Broad construction management platform spanning preconstruction (including estimating), project management, and financials; overlaps with Merlin on unifying office-to-field workflows Procore platform/estimating.
• Buildertrend: All‑in‑one product for home builders/remodelers with estimating, scheduling, POs, and a client portal; directly overlaps on production builder estimating→procurement flows Buildertrend PO.
• Trimble Viewpoint (Vista/Spectrum): Enterprise construction ERP suite with accounting, job costing, procurement and field tools; relevant for larger contractors and modular manufacturers Viewpoint overview.
• CMiC: Construction-focused ERP combining financials, project controls, procurement and analytics; competes where buyers want a single, integrated ERP at enterprise scale CMiC products.
• Sage 300 Construction & Real Estate: Long‑standing construction ERP with estimating, job costing, purchasing and project modules; common in mid‑to‑large builder back offices.