Instacart announced last week that it raised $225 million in new financing as consumer demand for online grocery delivery and pickup services has experienced an “unprecedented surge” since the COVID-19 outbreak. The investment, led by DST Global and General Catalyst, along with existing investor D1 Capital Partners, raised the company’s valuation to $13.7 billion.
According to a Supermarket News story, before the pandemic Instacart had about 130,000 full-service shoppers and 12,000 in-store shoppers to fulfill online grocery orders for same-day delivery or pickup. Now the company’s shopper community includes about 500,000 people.
“COVID-19 created a massive shift for the grocery industry and forever changed how people view the necessity of on-demand services,” explained Founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta. “Overnight, Instacart became an essential service for millions of families across North America, and our teams have worked incredibly hard to safely serve customers and shoppers during this time of need.”
Since it began operations in 2012, Instacart has raised about $2.1 billion in funding. The company expects to funnel the new capital into further expansion of its shopper community, key businesses such as Instacart Advertising and Instacart Enterprise, and continued scaling of its operational and technical teams to help meet rising demand.
Currently Instacart partners with more that 400 national, regional and local retailers across more than 30,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Instacart says that more than 85% of U.S. households and over 70% of Canadian households have access to its delivery or pickup services.