Image credits: Grover
Grover, a Berlin-based company that enables people to subscribe to tech products instead of buying them, announced that it has raised $330M (approx €302M) in a Series C round of funding, bringing its valuation to over $1B.
The Series C round consists of $110M (approx €100M) in equity led by Energy Impact Partners, with participation from co-investor partners, Korelya Capital, Mirae Asset-LG Electronics New Growth Fund, as well as existing investors Viola Fintech, Assurant, and coparion.
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$220M (approx €201M) in debt financing was provided by Fasanara Capital, along with the German Media Pool and SevenVentures.
Fund utilisation
The funds will be used to accelerate the international expansion of Grover’s circular electronics subscription service and grow subscribers in its existing markets – Germany, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, and the USA.
Having opened a base in Miami in 2021, the company plans to expand in the market by hiring around 100 people.
Michael Cassau, Grover’s founder and CEO, says, “With Grover, we are building the global leader in consumer-tech subscriptions. The tech rental movement is a major worldwide societal shift, one that will transform how we access and use technology to be more flexible and sustainable. We see players from all sides of the market getting ready to join this phenomenal new market segment with extraordinary growth and profit opportunities ahead.”
“We are proud to be the leading pioneer in this new $100B+ market. We will work very hard to leverage our frontrunner position and are excited to welcome all our new investors. Our joint goal is to simplify access to consumer tech and to bridge the tech gap for people all around the world,” he adds.
Grover: What you need to know
Founded in 2015 by Michael Cassau, Grover is a technology rentals platform that enables people to subscribe to tech products on a monthly basis instead of buying them.
With Grover, subscribers get access to over 3,000 tech products, including smartphones, laptops, virtual reality (VR) gear, wearables, and smart home appliances on a flexible monthly rental basis.
The company’s service allows its users to keep, switch, buy, or return products, depending on their individual needs and budget.
Grover’s products are returned, refurbished, and recirculated until the end of their usable life.
The average product will be circulated to at least four different users over several years. The record-holding product is a GoPro that has been circulated 27 times.
The company currently has 500,000 items in its inventory, covering the entire consumer electronics spectrum.
Rentals are available in the US, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Spain through GROVER.com. In Germany, the rentals are available through Grover’s online and offline partner network, including the electronics retail group, MediaMarktSaturn.
Last year, the company entered the embedded finance world with the Grover Card and saw ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) more than double from 2020.
The company has over 450 employees, with plans to continue growing the team in all markets.
Investors
Energy Impact Partners LP (EIP) is a global venture capital firm leading the transition to a sustainable future. With over $2B in assets under management, EIP invests globally across venture, growth, credit, and infrastructure.
Nazo Moosa, Managing Partner at Energy Impact Partners, says, “Grover has succeeded in pioneering the subscription economy for consumer electronics, a move that is critically important as we build a net-zero world. The intersection of society’s linear consumption habits and climate change is an important focus area for EIP, which closed its latest flagship fund at one billion dollars last year. We believe Grover will reinvent society’s relationship with consumer tech and as a result, allow us to continue using the products we need while minimising harm to our planet. Our investment in Grover is part of a mission to help scale start-ups from all over the world who can advance the transition to a more sustainable future, and we look forward to working closely with Grover as they move into this next exciting phase.”
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