Instacart

Marketplace for grocery delivery and pickup

Active

Updated: Dec 2, 2025 ·

Recent News & Mentions

Jun 1, 2020FundingInstacart - Venture Round Nov 1, 2018FundingInstacart - Series F Apr 1, 2018FundingInstacart - Series E Feb 1, 2018FundingInstacart - Series E Mar 1, 2017FundingInstacart - Series D Jan 1, 2015FundingInstacart - Series C Jun 1, 2014FundingInstacart - Series B Apr 1, 2013FundingInstacart - Series A Oct 1, 2012FundingInstacart - Seed

Financial History

Instacart has raised $1.5B across 9 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $230.0M Venture Round in June 2020.

Total Raised

$1.5B

Valuation

N/A

Funding Rounds Raised

Date	Round	Other Investors
Jun 1, 2020	$230.0M Venture Round	DST Global, Eclipse Ventures, General Catalyst, Long Journey Ventures, Renegade Partners, Sequoia Capital China
Nov 1, 2018	$270.0M Series F	ACME Capital, Verified Capital, Shervin Pishevar
Apr 1, 2018	$150.0M Series E	Kevin Hartz, ACME Capital, Adit Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Base Partners, Bond, Broadstone, Casa Verde Capital, Catapult Capital, Chemistry VC, Comal Ventures, Craft Ventures, Electric Capital, FJ Labs, Founders Fund, Freestyle Capital, General Atlantic, Heretic Ventures, Highbury Group, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Klossy, Norrsken VC, Northzone, Hans Tung, Pareto Holdings, Partners Resolute, QED Investors, Reimann Investors, Saga, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, TCV, Thrive Capital, Turtle Ventures, Uncork Capital, Verified Capital, Walerud Ventures, Y Combinator, Biz Stone, Dan Martell, David Hauser, Jacob Kerzner, Jared Leto, John Collison, Jonathan Siegel, Michael Abramson, Michael Moritz, Mike Krieger, Philip Kaplan, Rashaun Williams, Sam Altman, Scott Belsky, Shervin Pishevar, Stewart Butterfield, Stuart Coulson, Tim Ringel, Victor Jacobsson, Yishan Wong
Feb 1, 2018	$200.0M Series E	ACME Capital, Verified Capital, Shervin Pishevar
Mar 1, 2017	$400.0M Series D	Kevin Hartz, Accenture, Adit Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Base Partners, Bond, Brainchild, Broadstone, Casa Verde Capital, Catapult Capital, Chemistry VC, Comal Ventures, Craft Ventures, Electric Capital, Scott Hartley, FJ Labs, Founders Fund, Freestyle Capital, General Atlantic, Heretic Ventures, Highbury Group, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Klossy, LifeX Ventures, Norrsken VC, Northzone, Hans Tung, Pareto Holdings, Partners Resolute, QED Investors, Reimann Investors, Saga, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, TCV, Thrive Capital, Turtle Ventures, Uncork Capital, Walerud Ventures, Y Combinator, Biz Stone, Dan Martell, David Hauser, David Petersen, Gianni Martire, Jacob Kerzner, Jared Leto, John Collison, Jonathan Siegel, Mark Pincus, Michael Abramson, Michael Moritz, Mike Krieger, Naveen Jain, Philip Kaplan, Rashaun Williams, Rick Morrison, Sam Altman, Scott Belsky, Stewart Butterfield, Stuart Coulson, Tim Ringel, Victor Jacobsson, Yishan Wong
Jan 1, 2015	$220.0M Series C	Kevin Hartz, Adit Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Base Partners, Bond, Broadstone, Casa Verde Capital, Catapult Capital, Chemistry VC, Comal Ventures, Craft Ventures, Electric Capital, FJ Labs, Founders Fund, Freestyle Capital, General Atlantic, Heretic Ventures, Highbury Group, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Klossy, Norrsken VC, Northzone, Hans Tung, Pareto Holdings, Partners Resolute, QED Investors, Reimann Investors, Saga, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, TCV, Thrive Capital, Turtle Ventures, Uncork Capital, Walerud Ventures, Y Combinator, Biz Stone, Dan Martell, David Hauser, Jacob Kerzner, Jared Leto, John Collison, Jonathan Siegel, Michael Abramson, Michael Moritz, Mike Krieger, Philip Kaplan, Rashaun Williams, Sam Altman, Scott Belsky, Stewart Butterfield, Stuart Coulson, Tim Ringel, Victor Jacobsson, Yishan Wong
Jun 1, 2014	$45.0M Series B	Kevin Hartz, Accenture, Adit Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, American Express Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Ankona Capital, Base10 Partners, Base Partners, Battery Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Brainchild, Canaan Partners, Casa Verde Capital, Catapult Capital, Comal Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Craft Ventures, Electric Capital, Emergence Capital, Scott Hartley, FJ Labs, Founders Fund, General Atlantic, Hardware Club, Heretic Ventures, Highbury Group, Ann Winblad, IVP, Jackson Square Ventures, Klossy, LifeX Ventures, Norrsken VC, Northzone, Hans Tung, Pareto Holdings, Partners Resolute, QED Investors, Reimann Investors, Saga, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, TCV, The Hit Forge, Thrive Capital, Turtle Ventures, Walerud Ventures, Workday, Y Combinator, Chris Schaepe, David Chen, David Petersen, Farzad Nazem, Gianni Martire, Jacob Kerzner, Jared Leto, Mark Pincus, Michael Abramson, Michael Moritz, Mike Krieger, Mike McNamara, Naveen Jain, Othman Laraki, Philip Kaplan, Rashaun Williams, Rick Morrison, Sam Altman, Scott Belsky, Tim Ringel, Victor Jacobsson, Yishan Wong
Apr 1, 2013	$9.0M Series A	Kevin Hartz, Adit Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Ankona Capital, Base Partners, Canaan Partners, Casa Verde Capital, Catapult Capital, Comal Ventures, Craft Ventures, Electric Capital, FJ Labs, Founders Fund, General Atlantic, Heretic Ventures, IVP, Klossy, Norrsken VC, Northzone, Pareto Holdings, Partners Resolute, QED Investors, Reimann Investors, Saga, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, TCV, Thrive Capital, Walerud Ventures, Y Combinator, Jacob Kerzner, Jared Leto, Michael Abramson, Michael Moritz, Mike Krieger, Philip Kaplan, Rashaun Williams, Sam Altman, Scott Belsky, Tim Ringel, Victor Jacobsson, Yishan Wong
Oct 1, 2012	$2.0M Seed	8-Bit Capital, A Capital, Alsop Louie Partners, Ankona Capital, Binary Capital, Canaan Partners, Craft Ventures, Matt Ocko, Zachary Bogue, Draper Associates, DST Global, Goat Capital, Paradigm, Quiet Capital, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, Sherpalo Ventures, Sound Ventures, Suli, SV Angel, Tenaya Capital, Y Combinator, Emmett Shear, Erik Moore, Janis Krums, Kyle Vogt, Matt Cutts, Michael Levit, Michael Rapino, Ronny Conway, Sam Altman, Shane Battier, Shervin Pishevar

Financial History

Instacart has raised $1.5B across 9 funding rounds.

Total Raised

$1.5B

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Instacart.

Kaitlyn Knopp

Compensation Manager

Abdullah Khalid

Strategy and Business Operations Analyst

Elliot Shmukler

Vice President, Product

Brandon is currently Grocery Hacker and a Co-Founder of Instacart, the same-day grocery delivery service. Brandon built the early versions of the Instacart app, and now leads the Engineering team that works on Growth. Prior to joining Instacart, Brandon held senior engineering roles at a number of other startups including AngelList, Webs and StartupBus. He holds a BS in Computer Science from SJSU and currently lives in Redwood City.

J. Allie Morse

Director, Strategy & Business Operations

Max Mullen

Max is the Co-Founder of Instacart. He started the company with two co-founders in 2012. Previously, he's worked for several startups including Schematic, an award-winning interactive agency which was acquired by WPP. Max is originally from Los Angeles where he graduated from the University of Southern California, studying entrepreneurship and cinematic arts.

Apoorva Mehta

Apoorva Mehta is an Indian-born American entrepreneur. He is the Founder and Chairman of the San Francisco-based on-demand online grocery shop 'Instacart.' Apoorva co-founded this venture along with Max Mullen and Brandon Leonardo in 2012. An engineering graduate from the 'University of Waterloo,' Apoorva worked for companies such as 'Blackberry,' ‘Qualcomm,’ and 'Amazon,' before he became an entrepreneur.

Michael Moritz

Shopper and Delivery Person

Leadership Team

Key people at Instacart.

Kaitlyn Knopp

Compensation Manager

Abdullah Khalid

Strategy and Business Operations Analyst

Elliot Shmukler

Vice President, Product

Director, Strategy & Business Operations

Max Mullen

Apoorva Mehta

Michael Moritz

Shopper and Delivery Person

Deep Dive

Instacart - Marketplace for Grocery Delivery and Pickup

Instacart is a leading technology-driven platform that enables online grocery delivery and pickup services, connecting consumers with local retailers for same-day access to fresh groceries and everyday essentials. Founded in 2012, Instacart serves millions of customers across thousands of cities, offering a convenient alternative to traditional grocery shopping by leveraging an app that optimizes order dispatch based on real-time factors like weather and traffic. The company has experienced significant growth, especially accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which boosted demand for contactless grocery shopping[1][2].

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Origin Story

Instacart was founded in 2012 by Apoorva Mehta, Max Mullen, and Brandon Leonardo. Apoorva Mehta, an engineer with prior experience at Amazon in supply chain fulfillment, conceived the idea after multiple startup attempts. He personally coded the first version of the app and tested it by placing and delivering his own grocery order. The concept quickly gained traction among busy professionals seeking convenience. Early support came from Y Combinator, which provided seed funding and mentorship. Despite initial financial losses, the company reached profitability in April 2020, fueled by pandemic-driven demand[1][5].

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Core Differentiators

Product Differentiators: Instacart offers a vast selection from over 40,000 stores and 500 million products, enabling users to shop from multiple retailers through a single platform[2].
Technology and User Experience: The app uses advanced algorithms to optimize shopper dispatch timing, improving delivery speed and reliability.
Convenience and Flexibility: Customers can choose same-day delivery or pickup, catering to diverse preferences.
Community and Ecosystem: Instacart supports a large network of personal shoppers, creating gig economy opportunities while maintaining service quality.
Growth and Scale: The company’s extensive partnerships with over 1,800 retail banners and presence in more than 5,500 cities underscore its market leadership[2][4].

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Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Instacart rides the wave of digital transformation in retail, particularly the shift toward e-commerce and on-demand services. The timing was critical, as consumer behavior rapidly changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerating adoption of grocery delivery. Market forces such as urbanization, increased smartphone penetration, and demand for convenience favor Instacart’s business model. By integrating technology with traditional retail, Instacart influences the broader ecosystem by pushing grocery retailers to innovate and adapt to omnichannel strategies[1][2].

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Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Instacart is positioned to expand its market share by deepening retailer partnerships, enhancing technology for faster and more efficient delivery, and exploring new revenue streams like advertising and data services. Trends such as AI-driven logistics, sustainability in delivery, and personalized shopping experiences will likely shape its evolution. As it continues to scale post-IPO, Instacart’s influence on grocery retail and last-mile delivery logistics is expected to grow, reinforcing its role as a key player in the digitization of everyday consumer services[3][4].

This trajectory ties back to its founding vision of simplifying grocery shopping through technology, a mission that remains central as the company adapts to changing market dynamics and consumer expectations.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded Instacart?

Instacart was founded in 2012 by Fidji Simo (Founder) and Brandon Leonardo (Brandon is currently Grocery Hacker and a Co-Founder of Instacart, the same-day grocery delivery service. Brandon built the early versions of the Instacart app, and now leads the Engineering team that works on Growth. Prior to joining Instacart, Brandon held senior engineering roles at a number of other startups including AngelList, Webs and StartupBus. He holds a BS in Computer Science from SJSU and currently lives in Redwood City.) and Max Mullen (Max is the Co-Founder of Instacart. He started the company with two co-founders in 2012. Previously, he's worked for several startups including Schematic, an award-winning interactive agency which was acquired by WPP. Max is originally from Los Angeles where he graduated from the University of Southern California, studying entrepreneurship and cinematic arts.) and Apoorva Mehta (Apoorva Mehta is an Indian-born American entrepreneur. He is the Founder and Chairman of the San Francisco-based on-demand online grocery shop 'Instacart.' Apoorva co-founded this venture along with Max Mullen and Brandon Leonardo in 2012. An engineering graduate from the 'University of Waterloo,' Apoorva worked for companies such as 'Blackberry,' ‘Qualcomm,’ and 'Amazon,' before he became an entrepreneur.).

How much funding has Instacart raised?

Instacart has raised $1.5B in total across 9 funding rounds.

Who are Instacart's investors?

Instacart's investors include DST Global, Eclipse Ventures, General Catalyst, Long Journey Ventures, Renegade Partners, Sequoia Capital China, ACME Capital, Verified Capital, Shervin Pishevar, Kevin Hartz, Adit Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz.