Roughly one full year after its 8.5 million series A round in 2013, on-demand grocery delivery startup Instacart has just concluded a massive $44 million series B funding round led by Andreesen Horowitz. This fresh infusion of cash will reportedly help the burgeoning company make its services available in every city in the United States.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, Instacart works pretty much exactly how you’d expect a card-carrying grocery delivery startup to work. You start by simply visiting the Instacart site from a computer or mobile device, and then add items to your cart just like you would on any other ecommerce site. After you’ve selected all the stuff you want, you then choose a delivery time, specify the location at which the groceries should be delivered, and check out with a credit card. After you’ve placed an order, Instacart instantly beams that information to the smartphone of one of its personal shoppers, who then goes to a local store, buys the groceries, and delivers the order at the arranged time.
Services like this definitely aren’t new, but Instacart is growing much faster than its competitors. Over the past nine months, the company’s revenue has grown more than 15 times over. Much of that growth comes as a direct result of the company’s agile, crowdsourced marketplace model, which has ultimately allowed it to expand operations quickly and cheaply in a handful of new cities. As of April, you can now order groceries from Instacart in ten major cities across the country, including San Francisco, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
According to co-founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta, nearly every city that it’s launched in has grown more quickly than the last, so the company plans to use this new funding to continue pushing forward, and ramp up expansion efforts in the next few months. Instacart expects to have operations in a total of 17 U.S. cities by year end, and it hopes to be in all major U.S. cities by the end of 2015.
Find out more here.
Related Posts
Save up to $500 on Narwal robot vacuums with these Black Friday deals
If you've been waiting for the right moment to outsource your floor cleaning, this is it. Robot vacuums have evolved from clumsy bumpers into genuine cleaning assistants, and Narwal is currently running its biggest savings event of the year. From November 20 through December 1, you can save up to $500 across their lineup, bringing flagship cleaning tech down to much more accessible prices.
Get 50% off this SimpliSafe 8-piece wireless home security system
If “I should really get a security system” has been sitting on your mental to-do list for a while, this SimpliSafe deal makes it much easier to finally check that box. The SimpliSafe 8 Piece Wireless Home Security System is down to $119.99, which is 50% off the usual $239.99 price. You get a full starter kit from one of the best-known DIY security brands, without signing a long-term contract.
Save 20% on the Honeywell Sunturalux LED desk lamp with USB charging
Good lighting can quietly make a big difference in how you work, read, or study—especially if you’re staring at screens for hours. The Honeywell Sunturalux™ LED Desk Lamp (HWT-H01) is designed with that in mind: soft, adjustable light, a compact foldable design, and a couple of USB ports to keep your devices topped up.