Instacart Held Sale Talks With DoorDash and Uber Before Stock Jumped 9%

Instacart held preliminary sale talks with both DoorDash and Uber after hiring an investment bank to review its options, The Information reported on October 23, 2026. Instacart shares jumped more than 9.2% on the news, while DoorDash fell 3.5% and Uber dropped 3.4%.

The report lands at a pivotal moment for grocery delivery. Instacart's stock has climbed about 25% so far this year, but its roughly $13 billion market capitalization remains a fraction of the $40 billion to $50 billion valuation DoorDash was reportedly willing to pay for the company back in 2021 — talks that collapsed over antitrust concerns from US regulators. Selling now, before competition in grocery delivery intensifies further, may look more attractive to Instacart's board than waiting for a better offer later.

According to Bloomberg, Instacart also approached Uber about a deal, but Uber reportedly walked away from the discussions, a claim that rests on a single unnamed source cited by Bloomberg. Reuters described the DoorDash and Uber contacts as ongoing, cautioning that there is no guarantee any of the talks will produce an actual transaction. None of the three companies — Instacart, Uber, or DoorDash — responded to requests for comment from TechCrunch, which first aggregated the reports on October 24.

The timing fits a broader pattern of consolidation in food and grocery delivery. Uber closed a $2.3 billion acquisition of business-catering firm ezCater earlier this month, and DoorDash bought a college-campus delivery business from Wonder for $300 million just weeks before that. Both moves suggest the two largest delivery platforms are hunting for bolt-on acquisitions rather than pure organic growth, which makes Instacart — a profitable, publicly traded grocery specialist — a logical target for either company.

If a deal materializes, it would mark the second time DoorDash has seriously pursued Instacart, after the failed 2021 talks, and the clearest sign yet that the grocery delivery sector is heading toward further consolidation rather than continued three-way competition between Instacart, Uber (via Uber Eats), and DoorDash.