Instacart Appoints Board Members From Facebook, Spotify As It Moves Toward IPO

Instacart has appointed two new members to its board of directors: Fidji Simo, app head at Facebook, and Barry McCarthy, former CFO for Netflix and Spotify.

“Fidji and Barry are joining our Board during an important time for Instacart as we continue to serve as a lifeline for millions of customers, more than 500,000 shoppers and hundreds of retailers across North America,” Instacart said in a Wednesday (Feb. 25) blog post announcing the appointments.

The grocery delivery company said Simo has a wealth of expertise when it comes to developing global products people use daily. She currently leads development and strategy for the Facebook App, including News Feed, Stories, Groups, Video, Marketplace, Gaming, News, Dating Ads and more. 

She has been with Facebook for close to a decade and has advanced the company’s move to expand its mobile monetization strategy, the blog post said. She has also been instrumental in launching autoplay newsfeed videos. Before joining Facebook, Simo was with eBay as part of its strategy team.

For his part, McCarthy has “unparalleled insights” regarding what it takes to execute operations at scale and create sustainable businesses, “and will be an important advisor as we focus on Instacart’s next chapter of growth,” the post said.

McCarthy was chief financial officer at Spotify from 2015 to January 2020 and global head of its advertising business from September 2016 to January 2020. He previously served on the board of directors for numerous companies and was a private investor. He served as chief financial officer at Netflix from 1999 to 2010. 

In November, Instacart was reported to be getting ready for an initial public offering (IPO) led by Goldman Sachs. The IPO’s valuation is expected to be in excess of $30 billion and could be announced this year. The IPO could end up being the largest of 2021. The delivery startup recently closed a $200 million funding round on a valuation of $17.7 billion.

 The company appointed Nick Giovanni, a Goldman Sachs veteran, as its new chief finance officer last month, replacing Sagar Sanghvi.