When Instacart raised money at a $4.35 billion valuation in April, it marked a 28% step up from its previous valuation of $3.4 billion. That was surprising: Instacart raised the round as it was facing tougher competition from Amazon.com’s introduction of same-day Whole Foods grocery deliveries. It turns out, though, that investors weren’t as bullish as the valuation increase suggested.
Investors in the round agreed to pay only 9% more for Instacart shares than in the last round in 2017. Most of the valuation increase was due to Instacart issuing new shares, which means existing investors saw little gain.
