Germany-based electronics rental service Grover received $330m in debt and series C equity financing from investors including insurance provider Assurant, media company ProSiebenSat.1 and electronics manufacturer LG today.
The $110m equity portion of the round was led by Energy Impact Partners and also featured German Media Pool, the ad-for-equity vehicle formed by several domestic media companies, as well as Co-Investors Partners, Korelya Capital, Viola Fintech and Coparion.
Grover was valued at over $1bn in the equity portion while ProSiebenSat.1 and LG respectively took part through SevenVentures and Mirae Asset-LG Electronics New Growth Fund, a partnership with asset manager Mirae Asset Group. The $220m debt portion was provided by Fasanara Capital.
Founded in 2015, Grover provides a subscription-based service where online users can rent technology devices rather than own them, making them available to users who may not be able to afford them outright and reducing electronics waste by returning, refurbishing and recirculating items until the end of their useful life.
The circular economy model is becoming increasingly popular across other retail segments such as luxury fashion. Grover will use the proceeds from the round to grow its stock of devices, expand its financial services and encourage more businesses to come in with loyalty programmes.
The company also aims to grow its subscriber base in existing markets like Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States.
Assurant and Samsung Next, a corporate venturing subsidiary of electronics manufacturer Samsung, invested in Grover’s series B round, which closed at $100m in August 2021 with backing from JMS Capital-Everglen, Viola Fintech, Coparion, Augmentum Fintech, Circularity Capital, Seedcamp and unnamed private investors and over $1bn in additional debt financing.
Samsung and financial services firm Commerzbank’s Main Incubator took part in a $44.7m round for the company in 2019 with fellow financial services provider Varengold Bank, Augmentum, Circularity Capital and Coparion.
Both corporates had already participated in a $43.3m series A round the previous year alongside Varengold, Circularity Capital, Global Founders Capital, Hannover Innovation Fund, KRW Schindler Investments, Seedcamp and Coparion.
Grover’s founder and chief executive, Michael Cassau, said: “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.”
Image courtesy of Grover Deutschland GmbH.
