Thursday, March 9, 2017
Instacart has raised another $400 million in fresh funding, mostly from existing investors. The grocery delivery service is now valued at US$3 billion, or 50 per cent more than what the company was valued in its last funding round.
Just a year ago, tech executives were using Instacart as an example of “peak unicorn,” saying it could not justify its large valuation, according to a Fortune article. “Looks like it’s about to climb even higher.”
Instacart last raised money in January 2015, which brought the total money the company had received from outside investors to US$275 million, Fortune reports. At the time, investors seemed encouraged by the fact that the company was making profits in some of its markets. But it was only profitable on a gross margin level, meaning the company was still losing money in all of its markets once marketing, R&D, and even salaries are factored in. Still, investors rewarded the company with a $2 billion valuation at the time.
