Instacart aiming for valuation of $8.6 billion to $9.3 billion in IPO: reports

The grocery delivery company Instacart is aiming to go public at a valuation between $8.6 billion and $9.3 billion, according to reports.

Instacart is expected to officially disclose its expected valuation range on Monday, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the valuation target on Sunday.

Instacart’s valuation could still change as it sets out to market its IPO to investors, the WSJ report said, but the initial figures reflect a striking departure from what the company was worth in the past. As public stocks dipped around March of last year, Instacart cut its valuation from $39 billion to $24 billion. The valuation reportedly fell by another 50% by late 2022.

But despite its reduced valuation range, Instacart is taking a significant step toward reigniting a sleepy IPO market, which has been mostly closed since late 2021. There haven’t been any notable venture-backed tech IPOs since December of that year.

Similarly, the chip designer Arm, which is owned by Japan’s SoftBank, filed its paperwork to go public in August.

Instacart’s business boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic as consumers tried to avoid crowded public places. But as shoppers returned to stores, profitability has proved to be a persistent challenge. According to the company, Instacart shoppers and drivers deliver goods in over 14,000 cities from more than 80,000 grocers and other stores.

The grocery delivery service will join other gig economy companies like Uber, Airbnb, Lyft and DoorDash on the public market. The company’s stock is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “CART,” and Goldman Sachs is leading the offering.

–CNBC’s Hayden Field contributed to this report.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct figures for the number of cities Instacart covers and the number of stores from which its shoppers deliver goods.