Augmentum makes first German purchase – Augmentum Fintech has made its first investment in Germany with a €6 million investment in Grover (http://www.Grover.com/), a German technology rentals platform.
Augmentum’s investment leads a €11 million funding round, and coincides with Grover signing a new €30 million debt facility with Varengold Bank, one of Germany’s major fintech banking partners.
Grover provides a monthly subscription model for technology products. Through Grover, private customers as well as businesses rent “tech” flexibly, starting at one month, and return the items at the end of the agreed rental period. Distribution is both through Grover.com and online and offline through retail partners such as MediaMarktSaturn, a retailer with 400-plus stores across Germany.
Tim Levene, of Augmentum Fintech said: “The German market offers huge potential for Augmentum. Over the past year we have spent a significant amount of time analysing a number of compelling German fintech opportunities. Grover is a classic fintech disruptor. Its growth reflects a consumer trend for continued access to the latest electronic products. We believe this way of accessing technology “ownership” will continue to scale across throughout Germany and across Europe”.
Michael Cassau, Founder & CEO of Grover added: “I am very pleased to welcome Augmentum as a new investor and am delighted with the overall confidence of our investment partners in Grover’s long-term business success. The team at Augmentum brings ten-years of experience of successful investing in fintech, and uniquely gives us visibility in the public and wider capital markets space. Our total funding to date has now exceeded €100 million, solidifying Grover’s position as a leading player in the German start-up ecosystem. This new funding round will enable us to drive service- and product innovation and bring Grover’s future-oriented rental service for consumer electronics to new and international customers beyond the German market.”
AUGM : Augmentum makes first German purchase