San Francisco-based Instacart Inc. is set to launch its initial public offering (IPO) as early as September, according to new reports.
The move comes after the online grocery giant shelved its public debut plans in 2022 due to a global downturn in the equities market.
Instacart, which is a leading US online grocery delivery platform, is expected to file its IPO plans with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the coming weeks, sources told Bloomberg.
The decision to go public follows a challenging year for US IPOs. In 2021, the US exchanges raised a record-setting US$241 billion, but this year has seen a significant drop, with only US$14 billion raised so far, as per Bloomberg data.
Instacart's valuation journey has been a rollercoaster: it was initially valued at US$39 billion in 2021, only to be internally reduced to US$24 billion and later to US$13 billion.
Despite these challenges, the company has successfully raised US$2.74 billion as a startup from investors including Tiger Global Management and D1 Capital Partners.
Though expected to attract a handsome valuation, Instacart’s IPO will be overshadowed by British semiconductor giant Arm Holdings, which is also expected to go public on Nasdaq before the year ends.
Arm is seeking a US$70 billion valuation.