Berlin’s Grover hits Super Grover status with unicorn valuation, but …

Berlin-based all-things-tech rental platform Grover has raised yet another pile of cash, this time to the tune of $330 million in equity ($110 million) and debt funding ($220 million) in a Series C funding round. As per usual with the Grovester, the capital will be used to, “accelerate international expansion of Grover’s circular electronics subscription service”. To date, Grover has raised over $2 billion, 90% of which is debt funding.

At the end of November of last year, Grover dropped a $250 million loan from London-based Fasanara Capital on us, only to be superseded by a $1 billion debt and equity round earlier in July, both of which pointed to expansion in “new markets” which we’ll take to read as “the U.S.”.

With this new round of further debt (and a fractional portion of equity) Grover is planning to grow subscribers in existing markets - Germany, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, and yes, the United States, with the company pointing to the opening of an office in the bro-you-even-lift city of Miami. Now armed with even more(?) cash, Grover says that they plan to hire over 100 people to join the Miami-Dade County outpost.

I’ll fully admit that I, personally, am scared by horrific past experiences with anything labeled debt and can only wonder what the rationale behind $1.8 billion in debt is, however, the company reports an ARR that has more than doubled from 2020.

As of 13 April 2021, Ingrid Lunden from TechCrunch reported Grover is, "posting net revenues of about $43 million, with $71 million in annual recurring revenue, and tipping into profitability on an EBITDA basis."

“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,” commented Grover founder and CEO Michael Cassau. “We are proud to be the leading pioneer in this new $100 billion+ 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.”

Super (in debt) Grover’s $330 million Series C funding round was led by (equity backers) Energy Impact Partners with Korelya Capital, Mirae Asset-LG Electronics' new growth fund participating alongside existing investors Viola Fintech, Assurant, and coparion. As we’ve come to expect with Grover, the debt portion was provided by Fasanara Capital. Additionally, German Media Pool and SevenVentures also joined the round.

“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 minimizing harm to our planet,” commented Energy Impact Partners’ Nazo Moosa. “Our investment in Grover is part of a mission to help scale start-ups from all over the world who have the ability to 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.”