Instacart has picked Goldman Sachs
to lead its IPO, which could come early next year and value the US grocery
delivery app at around $30 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
By Joshua Franklin
and Anirban Sen
(Reuters) - Instacart has picked Goldman
Sachs Group Inc to lead its initial public offering (IPO), which could come
early next year and value the U.S. grocery delivery app at around $30 billion
(£23 billion), people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Instacart
was valued at $17.7 billion last month, when it raised $200 million in a
private fundraising round. Were the IPO to push Instacart's valuation to close
to $30 billion, it would underscore the rapid growth of its business as more
consumers turn to it to shop for groceries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The San
Francisco-based company is accelerating its IPO plans after voters in
California backed a ballot proposal last week that upheld the status of
app-based delivery drivers as independent contractors. This was a boost for the
likes of Instacart and Uber Technologies Inc , which rely on people to work
independently and not as employees.
The sources
requested anonymity because the IPO preparations are confidential. Instacart
and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
Instacart has been
expanding its delivery business to non-grocery goods, serving customers of
major stores such as Walmart Inc , beauty product retailer Sephora and
convenience store 7-Eleven.
Launched in 2012
and led by its co-founder Apoorva Mehta, Instacart's order volumes have surged
as much as 500% this year, as consumers shopped online during the coronavirus
outbreak.
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