Instacart to slow hiring to focus on profitability ahead of IPO

GROCERY delivery startup Instacart is planning to slow the pace of hiring as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO), focusing instead on profitability.

"We hired more than 1,500 people over the last year and nearly doubled the size of our engineering teams," the company said in a statement to Bloomberg. "As part of our second-half planning, we're slowing down our hiring to focus on our most important priorities and continue driving profitable growth."

The decade-old delivery startup joins other tech companies like Uber Technologies and Microsoft which are easing the pace of hiring and lowering costs over concerns of a slowing US economy and global uncertainty. Uber chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a letter earlier this month that the ride-sharing giant will treat hiring as a "privilege" going forward.

Instacart was a beneficiary of the delivery boom during the pandemic, but since then, growth has decelerated. The company cut its valuation 40 per cent to US$24 billion in March, amid volatility in public and private markets. Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which is an investor in Instacart, recently laid out the case for a long and drawn-out recession and warned startup founders to "do the cut exercise" immediately, by looking for ways to conserve cash.

Earlier this month, Instacart confidentially filed for a long-awaited IPO. A listing could happen as soon as this year, though the timing could slip, Bloomberg reported. BLOOMBERG