Instacart YC Application

Summer 2012Public

Instacart went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2012 batch as a Consumer company. Below: what the company does, who founded it, and its application to YC, reconstructed question by question in the real YC form.

YC batch: Summer 2012
Industry: ConsumerFood and Beverage
Team size: 3000
Status: Public
Launched: 2012

Founders

Apoorva MehtaFounder/Chairman & Founding CEO
Brandon LeonardoFounder
Max MullenFounder

What Instacart does

Instacart is the North American leader in online grocery and one of the fastest-growing companies in e-commerce. Instacart’s same-day delivery and pickup services bring fresh groceries and everyday essentials to busy people and families across the U.S. and Canada in as fast as an hour. Since its founding in 2012, Instacart has become an essential service for millions of families, while also serving as an immediate, flexible earnings opportunity for hundreds of thousands of shoppers across North America. The company partners with more than 350 retailers and delivers from more than 25,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America. Today, Instacart is accessible to more than 85% of households in the U.S. and more than 70% of households in Canada.

Instacart's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Instacart, Summer 2012 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Instacart

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Marketplace for grocery delivery and pickup

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

We built a platform that connects customers with local grocery stores and independent shoppers for same-day delivery and pickup. The product solves the hassle of grocery shopping for busy families and individuals by letting them order fresh groceries online and get them delivered in as fast as an hour.

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

We live and work in San Francisco, CA, and the company will be based here after YC as well.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco has the talent base and startup community to support building a large-scale marketplace and logistics platform. It's also a central hub for investors and potential retail partners.

21 more answers in the full application

Founders, Progress, Idea, Equity, Curious, Batch Preference are in the full version. Create a free account to open it in YC Insights, next to every other YC batch.

See full application

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the real Instacart YC application?

No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Instacart's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Instacart would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.