Instacart has held preliminary talks with Uber and DoorDash about a potential sale of the grocery delivery company, according to a Friday report from The Information that cited people familiar with the matter.
Instacart, currently worth about $13 billion, has brought in an investment bank to help weigh its options, the report said. If a buyer were to pay a typical premium of 30% to 40%, based on recent public tech deals, a takeover could be valued at roughly $16 billion to $17 billion.
An Instacart spokesperson declined to comment when reached by the New York Post.
The talks come as both Uber and DoorDash push deeper into grocery delivery and chase large acquisitions across the food delivery industry. A deal with either company could draw antitrust scrutiny given their overlapping grocery operations.
A Deal That Has Fallen Apart Before
This isn’t the first time DoorDash has circled Instacart. In 2021, the two companies discussed a deal that would have valued Instacart at $40 billion to $50 billion, but the talks collapsed, according to prior reporting from The Information. Antitrust concerns, including worries about winning regulatory approval under the Biden administration, were part of why the discussions broke down.
Instacart and Uber already have a working relationship. The companies struck a deal in 2024 allowing Instacart’s grocery app to offer restaurant delivery powered by Uber Eats. Last year, Uber began using Instacart’s Carrot Ads technology to run sponsored grocery placements on Uber Eats. Separately, earlier talks between Uber and Instacart reportedly stalled as Uber pursued other acquisition targets.
A Steep Fall From a Pandemic Peak
Instacart’s valuation has swung dramatically since the pandemic-era delivery boom. The company was valued at $39 billion in a 2021 private funding round, but that figure had fallen to roughly $10 billion by the time Instacart went public in 2023. Shares have since risen about 70% since the IPO.
Instacart’s revenue growth has also cooled, slowing from 19% in 2023 to 11% in each of the past two years. The company posted $480 million in free cash flow in the second quarter, with revenue up 14% from a year earlier to just over $1 billion. Instacart has said it plans to use most of this year’s free cash flow to buy back shares. Its expansion into advertising has not yet closed the revenue growth gap with its larger rivals.
Rivals Are Growing Faster — and Spending Big
By comparison, DoorDash’s revenue grew 28% in 2025, while Uber, whose business also spans ride-hailing, grew 18%. Amazon, which owns Whole Foods, has also been expanding its own grocery delivery footprint.
DoorDash, now valued at roughly $80 billion, bought Deliveroo and restaurant software company SevenRooms in 2025, three years after acquiring European delivery platform Wolt for about $8 billion. Uber, valued at about $135 billion, has agreed this year to pay roughly $15 billion for Delivery Hero and more than $2 billion for workplace catering service ezCater.
The Information reported that Uber’s recent string of acquisitions could complicate any bid it might make for Instacart. For now, the talks have not produced an agreement, and it remains uncertain whether a sale will happen at all.
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