Instacart is preparing for public company life by naming its CEO, Fidji Simo, as the next board chair. Simo will officially replace founder and current Executive Chairman Apoorva Mehta as the top board member upon the grocery delivery company's upcoming public market debut.
Instacart's incoming CEO Fidji Simo (L) and soon-to-be Executive Chairman Apoorva Mehta (R). Image courtesy of Instacart
Instacart is preparing for public company life by naming its CEO, Fidji Simo, as the next board chair. Simo will officially replace founder and current Executive Chairman Apoorva Mehta as the top board member upon the grocery delivery company's upcoming public market debut.
Instacart hasn't announced a date for its IPO, but the long-awaited event seems to be drawing closer. The company submitted a confidential filing with the SEC in May 2022 — the typical first step in the IPO process.
In a company press release, Mehta explained his decision to step back from the company he founded in 2012: "Since I transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman a year ago, I realized that I want to pursue a new mission and I want to do it with the same singular focus that I had while building Instacart. Stepping off the board will allow me to do just that."
This marks Simo's second time taking over Mehta's responsibilities, as she succeeded him as Instacart CEO in August 2021. Before that, she spent more than a decade at Meta, where she oversaw Facebook’s mobile application.
News of Simo's board promotion comes as Instacart tightens its leadership structure to better operate in the public eye. The digital grocer hired a head of investor relations in April, and just last week, it revealed a wave of C-suite promotions across its product, technology, business and marketing organizations.