Instacart’s Latest Funding Hints at High-Priced Public Debut: The Information’s Tech Briefing

Price expectations for Instacart’s public debut just went up, by a lot. The grocery delivery firm raised a fresh round of funding—its third since last June—at a valuation of $39 billion. That’s $9 billion above the IPO valuation some reports last November said Instacart’s bankers were planning. And of course, investors in the latest round will be hoping Instacart will trade higher when it does go public.

Judging by how DoorDash—Instacart for restaurant meals—traded after its December IPO, investors might expect a $70 billion to $80 billion number to be put on Instacart. DoorDash, even after a recent sell-off, has a market capitalization of about $51 billion. That’s a sizable lift on DoorDash’s $32 billion IPO valuation, which itself was double where it raised money last summer. Whether Instacart enjoys a similar short-term appreciation, though, likely depends on when and how it goes public.