Why Grover Landed In Miami And Shunned Silicon Valley For Its US Base
Grover, the electronics rental marketplace, has joined a cavalcade of tech firms descending on Miami to base its US operations.
The German company, which raised $1 billion last summer, opened its US headquarters in the city this week, just a few months after launching operations in the US.
The Florida city has emerged as a destination of choice for many start-ups and entrepreneurs, eschewing the well-worm environs of Silicon Valley, including European start-ups looking for their US base of operations.
Miami’s mayor Francis Suarez has actively courted the tech industry to the city, establishing the Venture Miami group to liaise with tech companies, and promoting a more relaxed regulatory environment for workers – Florida doesn’t have a state income tax.
“It’s a unique place today, not only in terms of start-ups moving there and entrepreneurs moving there but also the crypto economy,” Grover’s chief executive Michael Cassau said. “It’s the only city maybe globally where the government is moving in parallel with fast-growth start-ups. The government actually met with us.”
Since 2020, several major investors, entrepreneurs and companies have relocated some or all of their activities to Miami. This includes Founders Fund general partner Keith Rabois and Blumberg Capital founder David Blumberg who moved to the city while other scaling European tech firms have opted for Miami for their US offices, such as SellerX.
Grover has a team of 20 in Miami to date and plans to grow that to 100 this year. It appointed Andrew Draft, a former Uber executive, to head up its US expansion as general manager.