Grocery delivery startup Instacart planning massive round of funding

Watch out, Amazon Fresh: a new competitor is heading into town. Instacart, the grocery delivery service that leverages the ‘sharing economy,’ is looking to expand to Seattle, according to a new posting on GeekWork, GeekWire’s job site. It’s a big step for Instacart, which has seen explosive growth since the company launched in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company is looking to hire a pair of City Managers to handle operations and growth for the company’s service in the Emerald City.

On-demand grocery startup Instacart is fielding term sheets for a big new round of funding, according to sources. We’ve heard the new financing could be led by a non-VC investor, and according to one source it would value the company at up to $400 million. Instacart provides same-day delivery of groceries from a number of different local stores in various cities around the country. Customers place orders either through the company’s website or its mobile apps, and have groceries brought to their homes in a matter of hours. It’s delivers for national chains like Whole Foods and Costco, while also teaming up with smaller regional stores like Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco or Dominick’s in Chicago to make their goods available to customers.