• The Wall Street Journal reports that "Instacart orders and revenue grew in the second quarter as consumers stuck to online grocery delivery despite rising prices and store reopenings, a promising sign for investors as the company prepares for an initial public offering as soon as later this year.
"Instacart is one of the few companies in Silicon Valley moving toward a public listing in what might be one of the slowest years for IPOs in decades … Revenue for Instacart during the three months ended in June climbed 39% from the year-earlier period to $621 million, investors said, the highest quarterly revenue in Instacart’s history. The increase was stronger than in the first quarter, when revenue increased 15% year over year.
"The San Francisco-based company’s growth was driven by an increase in the number of orders placed on the app, which climbed 25% from the year-earlier quarter to more than 60 million, people familiar with the matter said. The quarter also was helped by the growth of new consumer price plans including lower-cost scheduled delivery and more expensive fast delivery options, as well as lower average fulfillment costs by grouping individual orders."
The numbers, the Journal writes, "provide support for the grocery-delivery startup ahead of the planned public listing as soon as this year."
