TN: Coimbatore woman entrepreneur designs India’s first “indigenously” built hovercraft
A woman entrepreneur in Coimbatore has claimed to have designed India's first indigenously built hovercraft that can run on land and water.
Apoorva Mehta, co-founder of Instacart, is making headlines with a substantial fortune of $1.3 billion after the grocery-delivery company’s successful initial public offering (IPO). Let’s take a closer look at Apoorva Mehta and his journey.
Mehta, aged 37, stepped down from his role as chief executive officer in August 2021 and also gave up his board position as executive chairman during the IPO process. This transition marked the end of his remarkable 11-year tenure with Instacart, a company he co-founded back in 2012.
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Apoorva Mehta, an Indian-Canadian entrepreneur, is the mastermind behind Instacart, a grocery delivery service. In 2020, Mehta achieved billionaire status at the young age of 33.
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Instacart, headquartered in San Francisco, operates a grocery delivery and pickup service across the United States and Canada. Through its website and mobile app, customers can conveniently order groceries from various retailers, with personal shoppers handling the shopping.
As of 2021, Instacart was valued at an impressive $39 billion. On September 19, 2023, the company made its debut on the stock market with an IPO price of $30 per share, resulting in a valuation of approximately $10 billion.
Born in 1986 in India, Mehta’s family relocated to Libya shortly after his birth and later settled in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, when he was 14. He earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of Waterloo.
Mehta’s career journey included stints as a design engineer at Blackberry and Qualcomm before he joined Amazon in 2008 as a supply-chain engineer. In 2010, he made the move to San Francisco. Over the next two years, he ventured into launching 20 startups, although most of them didn’t find success.
Notably, Apoorva Mehta is also an investor in Kofluence, an AI-led adtech influencer marketing platform. As of February 8, 2022, Kofluence had secured $4 million in pre-series funding.
Mehta’s achievements have garnered recognition, as he was featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2013 and earned a spot on the Time 100 Next list in 2021.
Instacart, officially known as Maplebear Inc., priced its IPO at $30 per share on September 18. On its first day of trading in New York on September 19, the shares surged by over 40%. The closing at $33.70 brought the company’s total valuation to an impressive $9.9 billion.
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