Instacart

About

Instacart is a grocery delivery and pickup platform founded in 2012 by Apoorva Mehta, who was later joined by co-founders Max Mullen and Brandon Leonardo during his time at Y Combinator ¹. Mehta, who studied engineering at the University of Waterloo, spent two years working on supply-chain logistics at Amazon before leaving to build his own company ¹. The inspiration came from being low on groceries without owning a car and experiencing the difficulty of taking the bus in cold Canadian weather ¹.

Mehta initially missed the Y Combinator application deadline but secured an investment after using the Instacart app to send a six-pack of beer to a Y Combinator partner ¹. The company went on to raise over $2.9 billion across 17 funding rounds ².

Instacart went public on September 19, 2023, raising $660 million in its IPO on the Nasdaq at $30 per share, valuing the company at approximately $10 billion ³. This was a significant markdown from its peak private valuation of $39 billion in March 2021 ⁴. Mehta left the company after it went public ³.

Instacart is headquartered in San Francisco, California and serves customers across the United States and Canada ¹.

Funding History

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What Investors Say

Sequoia Capital’s Mike Moritz, who led the firm’s Series A investment, said that Instacart was “fulfilling its role as a vital service for consumers, a reliable partner for retailers and an effective platform for advertisers” ⁴.

Sequoia led Instacart’s $8.5 million Series A round in 2013 when the price was just 24 cents a share, and Andreessen Horowitz led the next round at $2.98 per share ⁴. Both firms invested $50 million each in 2021 at $125 per share for a $39 billion valuation during the pandemic-driven delivery boom ⁴.

Sequoia contributed $100 million to the $400 million Series D round in March 2017, demonstrating continued conviction in the company’s growth trajectory ⁷.

What Founders Say

Apoorva Mehta on building Instacart: “Building Instacart over the last 10 years has been the most challenging and fulfilling experience of my life” ¹².

On the company’s identity: “We’re not just a delivery company. We’re a technology company that’s reimagining the way people shop for groceries” ¹³.

On overcoming obstacles: “We were rejected by investors who told us that bringing the grocery industry online would prove to be impossible. Retailers were reluctant to work with us because they did not believe a technology startup out of San Francisco would understand the nuances of the grocery business or would want to help their companies thrive. And, we were constantly questioned about whether we could be profitable in such a thin margin industry” ¹².

On leadership: “I’ve counseled a lot of leaders at Instacart to think about the big picture: to put the company before themselves, to take the long-term view, and to never be afraid of giving away their legos. I have found that this attitude creates a stronger, more resilient team and company” ¹².

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