Instacart – Company Profile

Instacart is a leading grocery delivery and pick-up service provider, operating in the United States and Canada. Instacart was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, U.S. Shoppers prefer Instacart, as it provides a convenient way to shop from participating retailers. Orders can be placed on the company’s website or via its mobile app.

The assurance of same day delivery is another key reason why people prefer Instacart. Wherever possible, deliveries are done within hours. Instacart platform has benefited all stakeholders including shoppers, store owners and manufacturers. The company has also created thousands of job opportunities for delivery personnel.

History

The idea for Instacart came to the founders when they noticed the long hours spent on grocery shopping. Some people may be okay with it, but there’s a significant percentage of people who hardly get time for grocery shopping. Another problem area the founders noticed was lack of participation from smaller grocery stores in the neighborhood. In case of orders placed on shopping platforms available at that time, delivery would take several days.

As a solution, Instacart was launched with the promise of same-day delivery. It also enabled participation of local stores, thereby working as an empowerment tool. Instacart started operations from San Francisco Bay Area, with focus on delivering food from grocery stores. Over the years, the company has expanded its presence in most parts of the country.

As of now, Instacart platform is being used by more than 1,000 retail banners. The company has presence in more than 75,000 locations across US and Canada. Services have been continuously improved, with new features such as Express membership program that offers unlimited free deliveries. There’s also a dedicated platform for retailers to help grow their business.

Funding

Instacart has received investments worth $2.9 billion via 19 rounds of funding. Some of the key investors include Andreessen Horowitz, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, Valiant Peregrine Fund, DST Global, General Catalyst, Tiger Global Management and Coatue. Instacart is currently valued at $13 billion.

Acquisitions

Instacart has acquired a number of companies over the years. It includes Wedding Party, Unata, MightySignal, FoodStorm, Caper, Eversight and Rosie.

Competitors

Instacart competes with rivals such as Shipt, FreshDirect, DoorDash, Cornershop, Gopuff, Onfleet and Growcer.

About the Founders

Instacart was founded by Apoorva Mehta, Max Mullen and Brandon Leonardo. Apoorva currently serves as the Executive Chairman at Instacart. He had earlier worked with Amazon. Co-founder Max Mullen had earlier worked with companies such as Location Labs by Avast, Volly, Sprout and Schematic. Co-founder Brandon Leonardo had earlier worked with StartupBus, AngelList, Webs and Cisco Systems.