Instacart CEO Plans to Build Company, Not IPO

Instacart isn’t rushing to go public right now, according to CEO Fidji Simo, Bloomberg wrote.

Simo, speaking at a conference on Monday (March 28), said the ultimate goal was that “the company that we do take public is a company that reflects the vision that I’ve laid out.”

“I want to attract investors that understand this long-term vision and understand what we’re trying to do, and so, there’s no rush.” Simo said.

Simo added that the ultimate goal was to keep building “a great business over the long term.” She said she wanted to do so by attracting good talent that “feels that when they come here, they have a lot of upside.”

The report notes that her comments came after Instacart cut its valuation by nearly 40% to $24 billion last week, saying the move would be done in order to attract talent through stock awards. That would put Instacart more in line with market conditions.

Instacart has seen a rush in value since the pandemic, as shutdowns encouraged people to have their groceries delivered.

Simo took over last August and has worked to build the company’s revenue streams in ways other than its core consumer-facing marketplace app, launching new services like selling to supermarkets.

See also: Instacart Plans to Boost in-Store Presence With Smart Carts

PYMNTS wrote that Instacart’s plans include adding “smart carts” and other digital hardware

The report notes the current ubiquity of self-checkout, and  Instacart’s smart carts would be good alternatives for stores that don’t have the means to equip their store with computer vision tech, allowing self-checkout to continue but without lines at a kiosk.