Groceries home delivery unicorn Instacart filed privately yesterday to go public, a highly anticipated event for the well-known private company. During its startup days, Instacart raised huge amounts of capital and grew rapidly. As the pandemic hit, Instacart’s business got a huge boost as demand for its service hit a fever pitch.
Last year was less friendly. Growth slowed as Instacart experienced a year of sales growth, driven by COVID-19 and more people staying at home and ordering. That Instacart kept some of that energy from 2020 and managed to grow last year is something of an achievement.
However, the company was not priced in the most recent venture capital rounds in view of slowing growth, leading Instacart to revalue itself earlier in the year. The move helped pave the way for more employee-friendly compensation and adjusted expectations for the exit.
That exit is now before us. We’re missing the company’s formal S-1 filing because Instacart took the “file private before submitting it publicly to go public” route. But since we’re now in the throes of an eventual Instacart IPO, let’s take stock of the company’s recent news and ask a few questions.
The main questions that come to our minds when Instacart debuts are related to growth, economy and revenue mix. As you can imagine, these are interconnected.