Grocery delivery app Instacart makes IPO filing public

Founded in 2012, the company has been preparing to go public for years, hoping to capitalise on its surging popularity during the coronavirus pandemic

An Instacart listing could further energise an IPO market that has been warming in fits and starts. Photo: Instacart

Instacart on Friday joined chip designer Arm Holdings in moving ahead with an initial public offering, disclosing a net income of $242 million for the first half of the year and adding momentum to a return of high-profile listings.

The largest US online grocery delivery company disclosed in its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that PepsiCo will be buying $175 million in preferred convertible stock.

The San Francisco-based company will not disclose the price and size of its planned share sale until later filings.

An Instacart listing could further energise an IPO market that has been warming in fits and starts.

Semiconductor designer Arm, majority owned by SoftBank Group, filed on Monday for what promises to be the year’s biggest IPO, which is expected in September.

Marketing and data automation provider Klaviyo filed on Friday for an IPO and footwear maker Birkenstock is also gearing up, Bloomberg News has reported.

Behind them are dozens of start-ups whose IPO aspirations have been stymied by the slowest year at this point for new listings since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009.

Founded in 2012, Instacart, which is incorporated as Maplebear, has been preparing to go public for years, hoping to capitalise on its surging popularity during the coronavirus pandemic as online shopping for groceries became the norm and, in some cases, a necessity.

Instacart raised $2.74 billion as a start-up and was valued at $39 billion in 2021, according to data provider PitchBook.

But as the pandemic waned and diners began to emerge from lockdowns and return to restaurants and wandering the aisles at grocery stores, Instacart’s growth faded, too, forcing the company to slash its internal valuation three times last year to about $13 billion by last October.

Its long list of investors includes firms such as Tiger Global Management, Coatue Management and D1 Capital Partners, according to PitchBook.

The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs Group and JP Morgan Chase.

The company plans for its shares to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CART.