By Jane Lanhee Lee
OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) – Delivery startup Instacart on Thursday said it raised $200 million in its latest round, valuing the company at $17.7 billion as it cashes in on a surge in online shopping due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June, Instacart raised $225 million, and the company was valued at $13.8 billion in that round. This latest round is led by existing investors Valiant Peregrine Fund and D1 Capital.
The grocery delivery company, which has been branching out to deliver non-grocery goods as well, has signed up big names like Walmart Inc, beauty product retailer Sephora and convenience store 7-Eleven in the United States since its last round of financing.
Instacart’s order volumes have surged as much as 500% year on year during the pandemic in North America as consumers, hesitant to travel to supermarkets amid the health crisis, take to their phones to get groceries, alcohol and prescriptions drugs delivered to their doorsteps.
To help meet the demand Instacart said it has boosted the number of workers that shop for customers to more than 500,000 from 200,000 at the start of the pandemic.
Instacart said in June that an initial public offering is still on the horizon. It declined to comment on that this time.
The new funds will be used to develop new features on the app, better support retailers’ e-commerce needs and invest in Instacart Ads, it said.
(Reporting By Jane Lanhee Lee; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
