INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Elliot Shmukler, who joined Instacart in 2016 to lead product, is leaving the company to pursue a role at an early-stage company, TechCrunch
has learned — and confirmed with the grocery delivery service.
Shmukler was brought on as the company VP of product, but he&d recently
transitioned into a new role, chief growth officer, before announcing his departure to staff.
A spokesperson from Instacart told TechCrunch
that Shmukler confirmed his plans a month ago.
Shmukler is still with the company today and will stick around to help with the transition
Instacart did not provide an official timeline of his departure
Moving forward,Shmukler employees will report to the company chief product officer David Hahn, who joined in May after serving as the VP of
product at LinkedIn.
At Instacart,Shmukler led the product management, design, marketing andcatalog management teams.According to his
LinkedIn profile, he helped expand the company subscription delivery program, called Instacart Express
He helped transform Instacart geographic expansion strategy, which resulted in the company making its service available to 70 percent of
United States families as of August.And he helped the brand secure several of its key grocery partnerships, including with Kroger,
Albertsons and ALDI.
Instacart is now available to 70 percent of United States households
Shmukler joined Instacart after three and a
half years at Wealthfront, a financial planning startup where he was VP of product and growth
Before that, he held senior product roles at LinkedIn and eBay
Led by founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta, Instacart is backed by Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz and others
Having raised $350 million at a $4.3 billion valuation this year alone, an initialpublic offering is probably not in the cards just yet
For now, the company has to preparefor the long and hard battle ahead with the seemingly unstoppable duo that is Amazon and Whole Foods.
An
earlier version of this story stated that Shmukler was leaving to pursue early-stage investing
TechCrunch has since learned Shmukler intends to pursue a role at an early-stage company.
