Maplebear Inc.

Corporate history

After getting inspiration from being low on groceries without owning a car as well as his trips to the grocery store by bus in the cold while growing up in Canada, Apoorva Mehta founded Instacart in 2012 at age 26. He tried to apply for funding through Y Combinator but missed the deadline. He eventually got a meeting by using the Instacart mobile app to deliver a six-pack of beer from 21st Amendment Brewery to a Y Combinator partner and was admitted to the summer of 2012 batch. Y Combinator helped Mehta raise $2.3 million in funding and enabled him to meet his two co-founders, Max Mullen and Brandon Leonardo. The company’s name is a combination of "maple," in reference to Canada, and "bear," for the logo on the California state flag, as Mehta grew up in Canada and moved to California.

At the end of 2018, Instacart changed its pay system for its personal shoppers. Shoppers reported frustration with the new payment system.

In 2019, the company expanded its services to offering an on-demand option for its shoppers, in order to allow shoppers to work more flexible schedules.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Instacart implemented contactless delivery, safety kits and guidelines for shoppers. From mid-March to mid-April 2020, as a result of a surge in usage of the mobile app, Instacart signed up an additional 300,000 shoppers to meet the surge in demand for grocery deliveries.

In 2021, Instacart had a valuation of $39 billion. In July 2021, Fidji Simo was appointed CEO, while Mehta transitioned to Executive Chairman of the Board. In July 2022, Simo was appointed to succeed Mehta as chairperson once the company completed its initial public offering. In September 2023, the company became public through an initial public offering raising $660 million, valuing the company at about $10 billion. The company's shares opened on Nasdaq at a price of $30. Mehta left the company after it went public. In 2025, Instacart unveiled its first Super Bowl ad.

In May 2025, TechCrunch and others reported that Simo would leave Instacart to take a role with OpenAI. Later that month the company appointed business chief, Chris Rogers, as its next CEO beginning in August 2025. On August 15, 2025, Chris Rogers officially stepped into the position of CEO and joined the company's Board of Directors.

In December 2025, Instacart agreed to pay $60 million to settle an investigation opened by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related to allegations the company had deceived consumers about its Instacart+ membership and free delivery offers, according to court documents. An Instacart spokesperson said the company flatly denied any allegations of wrongdoing, and that the settlement allows the company to focus on shoppers and retailers.

Service launches and grocery partnerships

2010s

Instacart was first launched in San Francisco in 2012. In November 2013, Instacart added alcohol delivery in areas where alcohol delivery was legal. The company expanded across the United States in the following years.

In August 2013, Instacart began offering an annual membership service called Instacart Express. In June 2022, Instacart Express was renamed Instacart+ and new family shopping features, including sharing membership and shopping-cart collaboration with another family member for free, were added.

In November 2017, the company expanded to Canada, first with a partnership with Loblaw Companies in Toronto and Vancouver. By May 2018, Instacart was available for use in 11 Canadian markets and was planning expansions for five more markets.

In April 2018, Instacart changed its prices by instituting a mandatory 5% service fee on all orders. It originally offered an optional 10% service fee that went directly to Instacart that could be turned off. It also returned the gratuity option back to the checkout screen and raised the default value from 0% to 5%.

In March 2019, Instacart expanded its same-day alcohol delivery service in the U.S. Effective May 2019, Whole Foods Market ended its partnership with Instacart in the U.S. given its ties to Amazon.com. In February 2024, Instacart announced customers throughout Canada can now order fresh groceries and everyday essentials from Whole Foods Market on the Instacart App.

2020s

In May 2020, Instacart began a partnership with Rite Aid, offering its service across 2,400 locations in 18 states. In August 2020, Instacart entered its first partnership with Walmart in the U.S. to offer same-day delivery services. The partnership is a pilot program beginning in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Tulsa. Additional partnerships in June included C&S Wholesale Grocers and Staples.

In March 2022, in partnership with TikTok, Hearst Magazine and Tasty, Instacart launched Shoppable Recipes with product integrations for food creators. In the same month, Instacart introduced the Instacart Platform, a program providing digital tools for retailers. The platform includes services such as advertising, home delivery, inventory management, and other technologies designed to support retailers online grocery operations.Through these services, Instacart expanded from a grocery delivery marketplace into a broader technology platform for grocery retailers.

In May 2022, Instacart partnered with Canadian grocers Metro, Giant Tiger, and Galleria Supermarket. In March 2023, Instacart announced the availability of digital tools for medical providers to promote nutritious foods to patients and their families. In November 2023, Instacart partnered with Peacock with US Instacart subscribers receiving free access to Peacock. In May 2024, Instacart partnered with Uber Eats to give Instacart customers access to food delivery from Uber Eats U.S. restaurant partners. In June 2024, Instacart began a partnership with New York Times Cooking with recipes from NYT Cooking providing links to Instacart for the ingredients needed to make the recipe and giving Instacart+ subscribers free access to NYT Cooking for a year.

Acquisitions history

In January 2018, the company acquired Toronto-based Unata, a white-label platform for grocers, for $65 million. In October 2021, Instacart acquired smart cart and checkout company Caper AI for $350 million. In September 2022, Instacart announced the acquisition of Eversight, an artificial intelligence pricing platform for brands and retailers. Also in September 2022, the company acquired Rosie, an e-commerce platform for local and independent retailers and wholesalers. In May 2025, the company acquired Wynshop, an e-commerce platform for US grocery chains. In April 2026, the company acquired Instaleap, a global enablement and fulfillment solutions platform based in Bogotá.

Finance

The key financial trends for Instacart (CART) are as follows, based on fiscal years ending December 31: