It’s no secret that the IPO market has grown relatively stagnant. However, there are signs that this trend may be coming to an end.
Last Friday, it was reported that Maplebear, Inc. (DBA: Instacart) is targeting an IPO as soon as September. This was a huge announcement, given that the company has considered an IPO many times in the past. It is not the only company readying for an IPO, however. Last week, we covered Abnormal Security’s IPO plans, and there has been much discussion of Arm’s IPO filing in the media. These offerings follow recent, smaller successes such as Cava and OddityTech.
Instacart’s IPO will likely be the first in the Prime Unicorn Index since Soundhound (SOUN) went public in April 2022. According to Business Insider, Instacart has previously considered going public in 2021 and 2022. Instacart’s CEO, Fidji Simo, blamed a slow IPO market for the delay, but will the current market conditions really prove to be more favorable for the company? Let’s take a closer look at Instacart’s share price, as tracked by the Prime Unicorn Index.
Instacart most recently raised a Series I round in March 2021 at a preferred price per share of $125, valuing the company at $32.9 billion. However, since its last round, Instacart has been marked down twice in the Index due to a drop in common share prices disclosed through Employee Plan Exemption Notices (EPENs). Following an EPEN filing in April 2022, Instacart’s preferred price per share dropped to $79.56, valuing the company at $21 billion. More recently, it filed an EPEN in March 2023, dropping its preferred share price to $32.01, which reduced its valuation to $8.4 billion.
Instacart’s public offering will be a highly anticipated event, as it will serve as an indicator of the IPO market’s health. See how Instacart has performed against the Prime Unicorn Index below.
