DoorDash reportedly in talks for $17B Instacart acquisition
DoorDash and Instacart may go from rivals to sister companies.
DoorDash is in advanced negotiations to purchase Instacart for roughly $17 billion, according to reporting from The Information. Instacart has also reportedly held discussions about a possible acquisition by Uber, which operates the Uber Eats on-demand delivery platform. Since 2024, Instacart has partnered with Uber Eats to bring Uber Eats restaurant delivery to its customers.
DoorDash and Instacart discussed a possible acquisition of Instacart in 2021 for between $40 and $50 billion, according to The Information. At the time, Instacart was a private company valued at $39 billion. Concerns about possible antitrust difficulties under the Biden administration were reportedly a major factor in the talks dissolving without a deal.
Instacart now trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the corporate name Maplebear Inc. and had a market capitalization of $14.3 billion as of Tuesday, Oct. 27. DoorDash also trades on the Nasdaq exchange and a had a market capitalization of about $73 billion as of Tuesday, Oct. 27.
In September, DoorDash entered a strategic partnership with Wonder, the delivery-focused restaurant company founded by former Walmart executive Marc Lore. Under the agreement, DoorDash will acquire Wonder's Grubhub Campus Dining subsidiary for $300 million and make a long-term $125 million investment in Wonder as part of its Series D round.
[READ MORE: DoorDash buys Grubhub campus business for $300M; invests $125M in Wonder]
DoorDash provides on-demand delivery services in 25 countries across the globe, while Instacart operates strictly in the U.S. and Canada. Both companies are headquartered in San Francisco. According to data from consumer transaction and market intelligence data provider Consumer Edge, DoorDash’s share of spending across major restaurant and grocery delivery platforms rose from roughly 44% in the second quarter of 2021 to nearly 59% in the third quarter of 2026.
During the same time period, Instacart’s share fell from roughly 26% to approximately 18%, while Uber Eats gained from roughly 16% to about 18% although its share has held steady over the past year.
Michael Gunther, senior VP of research and market intelligence at Consumer Edge, said in commentary emailed to Chain Store Age that these reported acquisition discussions indicate that the competitive landscape for delivery has changed considerably over the past several years.
“These trends partly reflect the expansion of DoorDash and Uber Eats into grocery, convenience and other retail categories, increasingly competing in areas historically associated with Instacart, and highlight how the boundaries between restaurant, grocery and broader retail delivery have become increasingly blurred,” said Gunther.
Instacart, DoorDash both develop tech solutions
Instacart and DoorDash have both moved beyond their origins as delivery platforms to become solution providers for food service and grocery retailers. In 2022, Instacart released a 10-year-plan that included its intention to go public (which occurred in 2023), as well as the goal of entering its “next, tech-enabled chapter.”
[READ MORE: Instacart takes first step to go public — and releases 10-year plan]
The company has since rebranded itself as a “grocery technology company” and released numerous in-store solutions including Storefront Pro, its end-to-end customizable e-commerce solution built specifically for supermarket retailers, the FoodStorm order management system for catering and prepared foods, and Instacart Carrot Ads electronic shelf label (ESL) software.
However, Instacart has announced it will wind down its Caper Carts smart cart business after determining retailer adoption is not scaling quickly enough to justify continued investment. DoorDash also offers a range of tools for retailers, including the DoorDash Commerce Platform, a set of solutions it released in fall 2024 that is designed to help retailers manage their businesses on their own channels, and has also been developing proprietary delivery robots and drones.
Instacart declined a Chain Store Age request for commentary. DoorDash and Uber have not yet responded to commentary requests.
This is a developing story. Chain Store Age will continue to provide updates.