SAN FRANCISCO — Instacart raised $225 million in a funding round led by DST Global and General Catalyst.
The round boosted the grocery delivery company’s total funding to more than $2 billion since it launched in 2012. Instacart’s valuation is now almost $14 billion, up from $8 billion when it last raised money in 2018, the company said.
Funds will be used to expand the company’s client base, add new services and features and scale its operations and technical teams.
“COVID-19 created a massive shift for the grocery industry and forever changed how people view the necessity of on-demand services,” said Apoorva Mehta, founder and chief executive officer of Instacart. “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.”
In April, order volume at Instacart grew by more than 150% year-over-year, with average customer basket size increasing by 15%. The company also has seen a record number of new shoppers sign up to fill and deliver orders, with approximately 300,000 new shoppers joining the platform since April.
Grocery delivery through Instacart is available to more than 95% of US households across all 50 states, and more than 70% of households in Canada. The company has accelerated its launch cadence with retailers since the beginning of the year, and currently partners with more than 400 national, regional and local retailers. In addition to grocery and everyday goods, the company recently has expanded its offerings to include alcohol and prescription pickup and delivery services.
“It's been remarkable to watch the Instacart team, in these unprecedented times, not only successfully scale its operations and technology to serve customers, but also provide earning opportunities for hundreds of thousands of shoppers, as well as continued business for its retail partners,” said Saurabh Gupta, managing partner at DST Global. “We are excited to partner with Apoorva and the Instacart team as they deliver long-term value for customers, shoppers, retailers and advertisers for years to come.”