Grover is a startup in Berlin that recently raised money for its consumer-oriented subscription model. Through this company, consumers can rent electronic goods like smartphones, computers, scooters, etc. This company has recently raised $71 million or €60 million (€45 million equity and €15 million venture debt).
This company has approximately 1,50,000 subscriptions, and it is trying to make it triple by the end of 2021. It will expand to countries like Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and the U.S.A. Grover has also added new products like consumer robots, fitness devices, smart appliances, and others.
This company is also willing to invest in rental service innovation due to the increased demand of such services after the pandemic. Michael Cassau, the CEO, and creator of Grover stated that when consumers purchase technology-related products, they focus on higher comfort, sustainability, and adaptability, whether they are used for entertainment or productivity.
With the additional funding, this company will be able to expand its business in new markets and provide higher customer satisfaction through innovative technological development for people and businesses.
Everglen-JMS Capital was the leading investor in the Series B funding, followed by some angel investors, unknown founders, Assurant Growth, Viola Fintech, Augmentum Fintech, Seedcamp, Samsung Next and others. Kreos Capital was involved in the issue of debt.
Samsung was the company’s strategic investor as it recently launched a subscription service that covers several S21 models and Tab S7 and Galaxy A models. Grover is trying to expand its business in wearable technologies through its partnership with Samsung.
The company introduced ‘Samsung powered by Grover’ in Germany. The funding has allowed this company to increase its business by 150%. As of September, this company has gained 1,00,000 active consumers and has rented out 18000 smartphones, 1300 electric scooters and 6000 pairs of AirPods.
Grover raised $297 million before the pandemic before which it raised $44 million through Series A and $48 million through Series B. Grover has sometimes been mentioned as Netflix for devices.
The main goal of Grover is to provide consumers with access to friction-light subscriptions to physical items like Netflix, Prime or Spotify.
There is an increased demand for second-hand electronic products because consumers are figuring out cost-cutting. Companies like MPB have raised $70 million in Europe for their second-hand camera equipment marketplace. Besides this, Wallapop from Spain and Vestiaire Collective have also raised funding of $ $216 million and $191 million, respectively.
This company has witnessed some ups and downs in its business, yet it is witnessing stable growth in the market. It can be said that this company has figured out the subscription model for gadgets.
