The Berlin-based unicorn plans to ‘hire like crazy’ in 2022 and onboard more than 100 new employees in Miami alone.
Tech rental scaleup Grover has selected Miami as its US headquarters and launchpad for its aggressive growth plan across the 50 states.
The Berlin-based company has raised $1.7 billion of funding since being founded in 2015. Grover’s platform enables users to rent tech products on a monthly basis. Offerings include devices like AirPods Pro from $12.90 a month and Microsoft Surface laptops starting at $34.90 a month.
“I’m excited about Miami because it’s one of the few cities globally where the pace of the city and the government is parallel to the pace of high-growth startups,” Michael Cassau, Grover’s founder and CEO, told Refresh Miami.
Cassau compared the Magic City to how Silicon Valley in the late 90s and early 2000s must have felt. “Everybody is very optimistic, energetic, and interested in building the future,” he said. Grover announced that it will open an office inside the Brickell City Tower Building at 80 SW 8th St.
On a recent trip to Miami, Cassau met with Mayor Francis Suarez and the Venture Miami team. Cassau said that Suarez is “a mayor who is super entrepreneurial and thinks the right way.” He also said that Grover is appreciative of the support Suarez and his team have provided to the company as they build out their local presence and plan to grow their US business by tenfold. Notably, Grover is the third German tech company in the past two months to announce significant Miami expansions; both 1NCE and everphone will be establishing bases in the Magic City.
For his part, Mayor Suarez called Grover’s decision to grow roots in Miami “an extraordinary development for this city.”
“Not only have we gained another unicorn, but a company that is committed to making technology accessible,” Suarez commented. “They’re also quadrupling their staff and hiring across all levels of the company, which provides opportunity for Miamians.”
According to Cassau, a significant portion of Grover’s senior leadership team will be based in Miami. That includes two C-suite roles the company is currently hiring for: a COO and a Chief People Officer.
Of Grover’s 400 employees globally, only a couple dozen now work in the US. However, Cassau noted plans to “hire like crazy” in 2022 and onboard more than 100 new employees in Miami alone, which will quadruple Grover’s headcount in Miami in 2022. On top of the previously mentioned C-suite roles, Grover is hiring in a wide range of departments: from sales and customer support to marketing and operations.
Last year, Grover tapped former Uber Eats executive Andrew Draft to serve as a Vice President and its US General Manager. “He’s in charge of hiring, growing the business, and making sure we deliver a magical customer experience,” said Cassau. “We are really happy and proud to have him.”
Cassau is bullish on Grover’s future in the US, so bullish Grover announced plans to invest $100 million in the US over the next twelve months. Florida is already Grover’s second-highest revenue earning state, after California.
“Consumer spend on technology products has moved to the non-discretionary part of a consumer’s budget,” he explained. “It’s housing, it’s food, and then it’s tech.” Cassau underscored how tech products are a core part of people’s lives, and can be expensive, without Grover: “for families, you could be looking at a tech spend of $30,000 a year.”
Grover is the “future of leverage,” said Cassau, since they help consumers avoid going into debt to fund tech products that quickly go obsolete.
The typical Grover user is aged 25-45 and subscribes to other services like Netflix and Spotify and uses Airbnb. While B2C is Grover’s main focus, Cassau reported that Grover’s B2B business is growing quickly.
Looking forward, Cassau is laser-focused on growth: “Overall, I’m really excited to close the gap between the 200,000 subscribers we have today and the 200 million that we want to reach eventually.”
And as for Miami, Cassau plans to visit regularly. “Our commitment to Miami is strong and final and we definitely want to build something new together here.”
This story was updated Feb. 9, 2022, to include additional details of Gover’s hiring plans and the new Miami office location.
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