Grover secures $1bn to democratize access to consumer tech

Berlin, July 28 – Grover, Europe’s market leader in consumer tech subscriptions, today announces it has secured over $1billion in equity and asset backed financing to democratize access to tech while tackling the world’s prolific e-waste problem.

In what is the largest ever financing round for a start-up in the circular economy space, Grover will use the fresh capital to accelerate growth and global expansion in new and existing markets. The funding will allow Grover to increase circulations from 475,000 to date to 5 million by 2024.

The round is made up of a $1bn asset-backed facility from London based Fasanara Capital, and an extension of its Series B funding round from $71m to $100m. The debt funding will be provided to a special purpose entity which will acquire and own the products Grover’s customers subscribe to. This structure separates ownership of the assets from Grover’s subscription platform, allowing the company to focus on product development, customer acquisition and international expansion.

Responding to surging customer demand, the Company nearly doubled its subscription base during the first half of the year and is already giving access to close to a quarter of a million tech products.

Grover enables people and businesses to rent technology on a monthly basis, removing the need for upfront capital expense and allowing for more flexibility than an outright purchase or financing plan. The subscription service levels access to tech by allowing subscribers to select from a variety of over 3,000 products, allowing them complete control of the subscription length to maximise affordability. At the end of the original subscription period, the customer can either buy the product, send it back or continue on a month to month basis. Returned products are refurbished to an ‘as new’ condition and recirculated to make sure they stay in use and out of landfill. When the product reaches the end of its life, Grover’s circular supply chain ensures the materials are reused or recycled. Consumers also enjoy stress-free subscriptions, with 90 per cent of the cost of any damage covered as standard.

Grover’s founder and CEO, Michael Cassau said: “Consumer electronics are fundamental to modern life and we believe that everyone should have access to the tech they need at prices they can afford. However, the linear nature of society’s consumption over the years has led to e-waste becoming the fastest growing waste stream in the world. We’re capitalizing on a major shift in consumer preferences to bring more tech to more people, while reversing the alarming e-waste trend that has such severe environmental consequences. So far, we’ve circulated 475,000 products, equivalent to 1,400 tonnes of e-waste. This latest round of financing is a huge vote of confidence from our investors and will allow us to realise our goal of becoming the world’s leading sustainable electronics subscription brand.”

Grover is already active in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Spain, and plans to launch further markets in Q4 2021.

Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital said: “Grover has gone from strength to strength and is well on its way to dominating the $280bn addressable tech subscription market. Consumer preferences are quickly steering towards a subscription economy for electronic products, and as Europe’s fastest growing company in that space, Grover is poised for significant growth as a result. The growth Grover has seen over the past 12 months is testament to the world-class founder-led management team, and we look forward to supporting them at this very exciting point in the journey.”

According to the UN, the world generates 50 million tonnes of e-waste each year, only 20 percent of which is recycled. By the end of 2024, Grover aims to have 5 million product circulations which will avoid 24,000 tonnes of e-waste or 260,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Grover’s investors to date include JMS Capital-Everglen, Augmentum, coparion, Circularity Capital, Viola Fintech, Seedcamp and Samsung Next.

ABOUT GROVER
Grover is Europe’s market leader in technology rentals, enabling people to subscribe to tech products monthly instead of buying them. Founded in 2015 by Michael Cassau, Grover’s mission is to create the most innovative ways for everyone – both private customers and businesses – to get the tech they want. With Grover, subscribers get access to a wide range of over 3,000 tech products, including smartphones, laptops, virtual reality (VR) gear, wearables and smart home appliances on a flexible monthly rental basis. Grover’s service allows its users to keep, switch, buy, or return products depending on their individual needs and budget. Rentals are available in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Spain on GROVER.COM, as well as – in Germany – through Grover’s online and offline partner network, including Europe’s leading electronics retail group, MediaMarktSaturn. Grover is a pioneer in the advancement of the Circular Economy and the number of circulations has reached almost 475,000 devices. Its business model of renting out tech products to several users across their life cycle allows maximum value to be extracted from each product and reduces e-waste. With a total financing volume of around €1.2bn, and currently 275 employees, Grover is one of Germany’s best-funded scale-ups.

ABOUT FASANARA CAPITAL
Established in 2011, Fasanara Capital is a quantitative fintech investment platform authorised and regulated by the FCA, offering access to inventive disruptive products and real-economy impact investment solutions. Fasanara manages capital for some of the largest institutions in Europe that desire access to the new asset classes opened up by technological disruption.

For more information, visit GROVER.COM.

Press contact Grover                
Grover Group GmbH
Elisa Nenning
E: Elisa@grover.com

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