Instacart Names Facebook Product Chief as COO

One of the most anticipated IPOs in 2021, Instacart has applied to a product manager on Facebook to become its next business manager.

Asha Sharma will become COO in mid-February and will report directly to Instacart Founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta.

“The solution for the customer is at the heart of everything we do at Instacart. We believe our long-term success will be achieved by creating products that exceed customer expectations at every touchpoint,” said Mehta. “To help achieve this, Asha Sharma is an outstanding operator and entrepreneur. We invite the product leader to serve as our new Chief Operating Officer. Asha is known for building strong teams in high growth environments and creating product experiences loved by people around the world. I am excited to invite him to the team as we focus on unlocking more value for all the communities we serve. “

As Instacart’s COO, Sharma will oversee the Instacart Marketplace, which includes Instacart App, Instacart Logistics, Growth, and Marketing. It will also focus on interacting with new and returning customers. Sharma is known for building strong teams in high growth environments and creating hugely popular product experiences.

“Instacart has become a fixture in our homes – including mine, one of the few items needed every week in the rush of life. “I’m proud to be joining the team at such an important time as it continues to change the way people connect with retailers they trust,” said Sharma. “I am passionate about working on products that have a real-world impact on people around the world. I believe Instacart only scratches the surface of what is possible, and I look forward to working with Apoorva and the team as we focus on developing new experiences that provide unique value to our customers.

Sharma joined Instacart from Facebook, where he was the company’s vice president of products for many private communication products on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. Sharma previously served as vice president of product and Social Impact Product Manager on Messenger during his time on Facebook. Previously, he was the COO of Porch, where he was responsible for the company’s operations, product, growth, and marketing efforts. Sharma worked in marketing and operations at Microsoft before joining Porch.

Instacart is currently the largest marketplace platform in North America and delivers from more than 45,000 stores to nearly 600 national, regional and local retailers. Instacart has also become one of the most valuable private companies in the U.S. A fundraising tour in 2020 doubled its valuation to $ 17.7 billion from the start of the year, and the IPO has great prospects in 2021.

Instacart said its business volume increased 300% year-on-year in December. The company has also grown its corporate team by more than 50% in the first half of 2021. Some of the new hires include:

• New CFO Nick Giovanni joining Goldman Sachs
• Christina Hall, new Human Resources Director joining LinkedIn
• Rama Katkar, the new Vice President of Finance, joined from Credit Karma

Instacart can be used by 85% of US households and 70% of Canadian households today.