🛒 Instacart’s search for internal truth

France is cracking down on influencers, taking aim at everything from crypto scams to filters.

A proposed bill defines influencers as people who use their celebrity to promote goods, services, or causes in digital content in exchange for compensation, per The Washington Post.

Basically, anyone from Kim K. to that Instagram lifestyle guru whose positive vibe is all thanks to this particular brand of essential oils.

If passed, it would:

• Require influencers disclose paid content.
• Ban paid promotion of cosmetic surgery and some financial products, including crypto.
• Require influencers to label photos and videos where their faces or bodies have been manipulated by filters or editing.
• Add banners to content promoting anything risky, such as gambling.

If passed…

…  violators of France’s bill would face six months of jail and a $328k fine. That sounds intense, but the bill asserts that yes, influencing is a real job and should be held to the same standards as other media or advertisers.

But wait, why filters?

We’re not talking about puppy dog ears or… whatever is happening here. We’re talking about tools that promote unrealistic body types and beauty standards.

• Studies have found young social media users’ mental health and self-esteem is negatively impacted when they can’t look like influencers — who often achieve those looks via filters, photo editing, and cosmetic procedures.
• In 2019, The Guardian reported on “Snapchat dysmorphia,” a term coined by cosmetic doctor Tijion Esho to refer to people who want procedures to look like their filtered selfies.

Norway passed a similar photo-editing law in 2021, though experts worry such regulations don’t address the root cause of body image issues, draw more attention to manipulated photos, and encourage people to go to greater lengths (e.g., surgery, extreme diets) to achieve desired looks.

“What is my worth?” is a question all grocery delivery services must ask themselves at some point along the way. As Instacart has learned, those answers don’t always come easily.

Instacart, a personal shopping aid for ~10m users, has seen its valuation rise and fall, and now, it seems, it’s ready to rise again.

According to The Information, an 18% increase to Instacart’s internal stock price in February brings its valuation to ~$12B, up from ~$10B late last year — but a far cry from its 2021 peak of $39B.

So, what happened here?

Private tech companies have seen great fluctuation in internal value lately. (Ask Stripe, now valued at ~$50B just two years after a $95B valuation.)

In Instacart’s case, it, in part, has public rivals to thank:

• Its internal share price is set through a 409A valuation exercise, in which consultants measure a company’s quarterlies against the stock performance of similar publicly traded companies.

Adding to Instacart’s wild ride: The food delivery sector in particular was due for some post-pandemic level setting.

• Stocks of competitors DoorDash and Uber saw years of tumult. They’ve stabilized of late (up 31% and 25%, respectively, YTD), lifting up Instacart’s internal valuation with them.
• This isn’t just an Instacart thing; Good Eggs, another grocery delivery firm, has cut its valuation 94% since 2020.

What’s next for Instacart?

Eleven years since its founding, it has long flirted with an IPO and appears to still be waiting for the right window.

Valuation drama aside, Instacart isn’t hurting too much in the meantime — last year’s $2.5B revenue says as much. It also introduced food-stamp payments, added stores, and grew Instacart+ memberships in 2022.

BTW: Stretching your driver’s car to capacity by ordering in bulk? Maybe tip them heartily?