DoorDash buys Instacart in $17 billion deal

DoorDash announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Instacart for $17 billion. The deal consolidates the two largest competitors in the online grocery delivery market in the United States and Canada.

The Instacart name and app will remain in use after the transaction closes. Instacart shoppers, who are independent contractors, will continue fulfilling orders for the platform. Supermarkets retain the option to partner with either Instacart or DoorDash. DoorDash said the merger will give existing Instacart customers access to 50,000 additional stores currently covered by its network.

Instacart was founded in 2012 and specializes in grocery and convenience store deliveries. The company employs 600,000 independent contractors who completed 338 million orders last year. Its current market valuation stands at $14 billion. DoorDash, founded in San Francisco in 2013, started as a restaurant delivery service before expanding into pet food and electronics. It operates in 40 countries and completed over 3 billion orders last year through a network of 9 million independent drivers. Its market value is $73 billion.

DoorDash entered the grocery delivery space in 2020 as demand surged during the pandemic. Supermarkets initially approached the partnership with caution. Kroger began working with DoorDash in 2022 but limited the service to flowers, sushi, and prepared foods from a small number of locations. That partnership expanded in the fall of 2025 to include the full inventory of Kroger's 2,700 stores in the U.S. DoorDash also added Costco deliveries last month.

Tony Xu, co-founder and CEO of DoorDash, stated the acquisition will merge Instacart's grocery expertise with DoorDash's logistics capabilities. In a statement, Xu noted that groceries are difficult to deliver online because shoppers must select ripe produce, find suitable substitutes, and keep frozen items cold. He said the combined company will provide more tools to stores of all sizes to unlock the potential of grocery delivery.

Market data from research firm Consumer Edge shows Instacart's share of U.S. delivery platform spending fell from 26% to 18% over the last five years. During that same period, DoorDash's share grew from 44% to 59%. Uber Eats maintained a stable share of just under 20%.

The deal leaves some existing partnerships in uncertain territory. Instacart currently provides delivery services for Walmart, while DoorDash ended its Walmart delivery program in 2022.