US same-day grocery delivery service Instacart has closed a $200 million Series E funding round, led by Coatue Management, valuing the company at approximately $4.2 billion.

In 2017, the US firm’s Express subscriber base grew by 300 per cent, as the company moved beyond big cities and into smaller regions. Instacart launched in over 160 new metropolitan areas over the course of the year and is now available to 70 million households in the US and Canada.

As a result of the growth, seven of the top eight North American grocers are now on the Instacart marketplace, bringing the total to more than 200 grocery partners.

With the new injection of funding, Instacart hopes to provide customers with greater convenience and a better grocery selection at competitive prices. The company will be investing in growing its shopper support teams and in new technologies and software.

Apoorva Mehta, founder and CEO of Instacart, commented: “In 2017, the online grocery market reached a tipping point. Offering customers the ability to buy their groceries online went from being a nice to have to being mission critical for grocery retailers.

“There is a fever pitch of excitement in our industry and we are truly grateful to be able to lead the charge in transforming the grocery ecommerce landscape.”

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