Instacart CEO courts investors, skeptical grocers ahead of IPO

Bloomberg

Instacart Inc, a 10-year-old grocery delivery startup that was once one of the most highly valued of its gig-economy generation, is preparing to go public, potentially plunging itself into the volatile stock market as it sets to prove itself in a post-pandemic world.
The company has confidentially filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to start the process for a stock market listing, according to a statement, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. The registration is expected to become effective after the SEC completes its review process.
Chief Executive Officer Fidji Simo now must convince investors that Instacart’s explosive growth during the Covid-19 lockdowns won’t fade along with the virus.
Simo, 36, will be challenged not to squander the loyalty of millions of people who came to rely on the app during the long months of restrictions but now have opportunities to wander the fresh produce aisles again.
The pandemic caused order volumes to surge in early 2020 and helped Instacart to dominate grocery delivery in the US.
But that success also spawned upstarts that have chipped away at Instacart’s market share and its grocery store partners have begun to question if their former white-knight has become a
trojan horse intent on ruling online grocery sales and controlling voluminous amounts of consumer data.
Since last year, as restaurants reopened and vaccine rates rose, orders have started to slip and Instacart slashed its private market valuation by almost 40% in March.
Instacart’s public debut could also come at a turbulent time in the stock market. Only two IPOs of more than $500 million have priced this year in the US and
the performance of newly public companies generally has been disappointing.