Why we invested in Grover

Today, Grover announced it has raised €37 million in Series A financing from a group of investors, including Samsung NEXT. While we have made multiple investments in Europe, Grover represents our first investment in Berlin since opening our office here, so we’re especially excited to share this news.

There are many reasons we invested, but first and foremost, the company is led by an execution-focused founding team with a solid background in marketplaces, consumer marketing, and finance. At Samsung NEXT, we value not only the idea and the innovation, but the people who will execute on its progress.

We also see Grover tapping into several trends impacting consumer commerce. The first is a shift to access over ownership and more interest in the idea of the subscription economy, as evidenced in the growth of companies like Netflix, Spotify, and Ofo. The second is a move away from credit to debit as a form of payment among millennials. We see proof of all this in Grover’s revenue growth rate of 20 percent per month.

Grover offers a new way for consumers to gain access to consumer electronics devices. It utilizes proprietary tech to assess consumer creditworthiness, and reaches consumers through two main channels:

• It has a robust direct-to-consumer business on getgrover.com, where customers can subscribe to the latest tech products for periods of one month, three months, six months, or longer.

• Grover also partners with OEMs and retailers to offer rentals at checkout. That reduces the amount of friction, fraud, and returns, while also enabling partners to reach new customer groups.

We’re happy to be investors in Grover and look forward to working with them as they try out new offerings and move into new markets.