iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Founder and Executive Chairman of US-based Instacart, Apoorva Mehta, will soon step down. He had established the online grocery delivery service nearly a decade ago. This decision comes in the wake of the company going public. In May Instacart disclosed that it had submitted a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a precursor to an initial public offering.
To explain his decision, Mehta posted a string of tweets on July 22: “Today I’m announcing that once @instacart becomes a public company, I’ll be stepping down as Executive Chairman and transitioning off the board of directors. I care deeply about Instacart. It’s the one thing I have thought about for every waking minute of the last decade! This is what made it an incredibly difficult decision and something that I have been struggling with for months.”
“So why leave? Since I transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman a year ago, I realized that I want to pursue a new mission and I want to do it with the same singular focus that I had while building Instacart. Stepping off the board will allow me to do just that. I know the company will continue to thrive and is in the capable hands of @fidjissimo. Instacart has an enormous opportunity ahead and I have confidence in the team’s ability to achieve its full potential. Onwards!,” he added.
Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, on July 22 announced that Chief Executive Officer Fidji Simo has been appointed as Chair of its Board of Directors. This will come into effect upon Founder & Executive Chairman Apoorva Mehta’s transition off the board once Instacart becomes a public company. Simo had joined Instacart as CEO in August 2021.
The company partners with more than 800 national, regional, and local retail brands to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 70,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America on the Instacart Marketplace.
In a statement uploaded on the Instacart website, Simo has said: “Apoorva realized more than a decade ago that grocery delivery was a core consumer need. He worked tirelessly with the team to create and build a successful model that allows consumers to access same-day delivery from their favorite grocers. We’re incredibly grateful to Apoorva for his commitment to growing Instacart and building something revolutionary.” He added, “As CEO and future Chair, I look forward to working alongside our retail partners to shape the next decade of grocery’s evolution. We’ll do this by building on Instacart’s already strong foundation and putting our technology in the hands of our partners so we can invent the future of grocery together.”
“Instacart has been my life’s work for more than a decade. Since I transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman a year ago, I realized that I want to pursue a new mission and I want to do it with the same singular focus that I had while building Instacart. Stepping off the board will allow me to do just that,” said Instacart Founder & Executive Chairman Apoorva Mehta. “We have a high-caliber leadership team with Fidji at the helm, and I’m excited about her vision for the company and the expanded role Instacart can play for retailers for years to come. I remain confident in the enormous opportunity ahead and will always be a supporter of the team and company.”
“Apoorva created a company that is transforming the grocery industry. His hard work and dedication brought Instacart into the homes of millions of customers. He poured his heart and soul into Instacart, and we thank him enormously for everything he has done for the company,” said Instacart Board Member Jeff Jordan. “Since Fidji joined last year as CEO, she has ushered in a new chapter for Instacart. Fidji’s role as CEO and future Chair is a testament to the Board’s unwavering confidence in her strategic vision for Instacart. I am extremely optimistic about the company’s future.”
As Chair, Simo will assume leadership of Instacart’s esteemed Board of Directors, which includes Meredith Kopit Levien, President and Chief Executive Officer of The New York Times Company; Lily Sarafan, Co-Founder and Executive Chair of TheKey; Barry McCarthy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Peloton; Daniel Sundheim, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of D1 Capital Partners; Frank Slootman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Snowflake; Michael Moritz, Managing Member of Sequoia Capital; and Jeff Jordan, General Partner of Andreessen Horowitz.
