Instacart expands services with Unata buy

On-demand grocery delivery specialist Instacart said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Unata, which offers a range of third-party digital solutions for food retailers.

Instacart, which is based in San Francisco and has expanded its reach to 190 markets around the country, said Unata would become an independent subsidiary of Instacart and would maintain its headquarters in Toronto. Chris Bryson, Unata's CEO, will remain in his current role, and will report to Instacart's chief business officer, Nilam Ganenthiran.

The combination of the two companies will allow Instacart to offer a broader range of services to its grocery partners. Unata offers configurable, cloud-based white-label e-commerce platforms, digital circulars and digital loyalty programs. According to its website, it uses proprietary algorithms to create personalized experiences for users based on machine learnings and data analysis.

Unata provides services for the Longo’s chain in Canada and several regional chains in the U.S., including SpartanNash, Raley’s, Roche Bros., Festival Foods, Lunds & Byerlys and Lowe’s Foods.

“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,” said Apoorva Mehta, founder and CEO of Instacart. “This acquisition allows us to take that commitment to the next level.”

Added Bryson of Unata: “Unata and Instacart have long shared a vision of innovating the grocery industry and building the online grocery shopping experience of the future. 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.”

Terms of the acquisition, which is subject to certain closing conditions, were not disclosed.