(Bloomberg) — Instacart Inc. is in “no rush” to go public, Chief Executive Officer Fidji Simo said at a conference on Monday.
“For me it’s really about making sure that the company that we do take public is a company that reflects the vision that I’ve laid out,” Simo said, speaking at the ShopTalk conference in Las Vegas. “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’s comments come after the grocery-delivery startup slashed its valuation by almost 40% to $24 billion last week. The company said the move will help attract talent, by giving more potential for gains in stock awards, and bring Instacart in line with current market conditions.
“We’re going to focus on building a great business over the long term and to do that we need absolutely top talent that feels that when they come here, they have a lot of upside,” Simo said.
Founded in 2012, Instacart became one of the most valuable startups amid the boom in delivery during the pandemic. The San Francisco-based company was valued at $39 billion last year when it raised $265 million, and investors have been anticipating a public market debut for years. However, recent market volatility has made investors more skeptical about technology companies. Instacart’s delivery rivals DoorDash Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. have both seen their share prices decline about 50% from 2021 highs.
Simo, who took over as CEO last August, has worked to build Instacart’s revenue streams outside of its core consumer-facing marketplace app. Last week Instacart launched a platform of services to sell to supermarkets in a bid to bolster its enterprise business.
The former Facebook veteran said she sees advertising eventually accounting for the majority of Instacart’s revenue with the grocery delivery business breaking even. Simo said the company’s advertising business grew “close to triple digits” last year and will be “very important” to Instacart’s future financial model.
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