Online grocery platform Instacart has raised $265 million in new funding, increasing its valuation to $39 billion.
Instacart will use the money to increase its corporate headcount by 50% in 2021, as well as further investing in several key areas including:
- Instacart Marketplace, which connects customers and retailers;
- Instacart Advertising, which enables CPG companies to reach customers shopping online; and
- Instacart Enterprise, which offers end-to-end ecommerce solutions for retailers.
Instacart currently partners with nearly 600 North American retailers to offer delivery and pickup services from more than 45,000 stores.
Online grocery boomed last year, becoming one of the fastest-growing ecommerce segments, according to Barrons: online grocery sales grew 60% YoY in 2020. Instacart was a key player in this rapid evolution, adding more than 200 new retailers in 2020 including Walmart, 7-Eleven and Family Dollar. The company also began expanding beyond grocery into prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, office supplies, electronics, health, beauty and wellness, home décor, sports equipment and more with retailers including Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond and Sephora.
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The new round of financing was led by existing Instacart investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company and T. Rowe Price Associates.
