Instacart to Acquire Unata

Instacart is acquiring Unata, a leading provider of digital shopping technologies for grocers, in a deal the companies said would allow Instacart to forge deeper relationships with grocers for which it provides on-demand ordering and delivery.

Terms of the deal, which require certain closing conditions, were not disclosed.

The acquisition unites Unata’s “white-label” e-commerce platform and digital marketing capabilities with Instacart’s size and scale.

"This acquisition will help Instacart accelerate the rate at which grocery is coming online even further by becoming a one-stop shop for the full slate of a retailer’s digital needs,” Nilan Ganenthiran, Instacart’s chief business officer, told WGB. “Unata’s technology and expertise will allow Instacart to facilitate even deeper integration with our retail partners and meet more of their needs including solutions for fully automated and personalized circulars, solutions for engaging loyalty members, and a seamless customer experience where every part of the retailer's website becomes shoppable and personalized.”

Unata—whose headquarters will remain in Toronto—will become an independent subsidiary of Instacart, maintaining its name and brand. Instacart will continue to invest in innovation and resources for both Unata and Instacart as the companies merge into a single platform. Unata CEO Chris Bryson will remain in his current role, and will report to Ganenthiran.

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Unata provides e-commerce services allowing for click-and-collect shopping, delivery and “one-to-one” marketing for grocers including Lowe’s Foods, Roche Bros., Spartan Nash, Festival Foods, Raleys and others. Instacart currently provides some of those stores with same-day delivery options, and its technology provides an online shopping platform and facilitates same-day delivery for dozens of retailers in 190 markets.

“Unata and Instacart have long shared a vision of innovating the grocery industry and building the online grocery shopping experience of the future,” Bryson said in a statement. “By combining the power of our teams and technologies, we can achieve this vision faster and for the first time ever offer a fully comprehensive, configurable digital solution for grocery retailers of all sizes.”

San Francisco-based Instacart said the combination would provide brick-and-mortar retailers additional clout as they compete amid digital transformation of the industry.

“Instacart’s mission has always been to be an independent partner to retailers and enable them to give their customers the best experiences using the best technology,” Apoorva Mehta, founder and CEO of Instacart, said in a statement. “This acquisition allows us to take that commitment to the next level. It represents a landmark win for retailers, who will benefit from Instacart's scale, Unata's highly configurable technology, and the deep grocery industry integrations this acquisition will enable.”

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