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"That's a lot of leafy greens.\nInstacart, the same-day grocery delivery startup, has raised $44 million in a Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Box CEO Aaron Levie and Y Combinator president Sam Altman also pitched in.\nSee also: 7 Fresh Apps to Upgrade Grocery Shopping\nThe new investment follows on an $8.5 million round from almost a year ago. \nGrocery delivery services, particularly those that can complete an order on the same day, has become one of the more popular but crowded spaces in the startup service market. \nInstacart competes directly with other grocery services like Amazon Fresh and FreshDirect, and more broadly with other delivery options like UberRUSH and Google Shopping Express.\n\"As we think about the future of ecommerce, groceries are among the last huge untapped opportunities. While many have tried to crack the code, few have met with success,\" Jeff Jordan, partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said in a press release.\nInstacart is a bit leaner than its competitors. The startup crowdsources shoppers that can use their own cars to shop at local stores and make deliveries, avoiding the need for major overhead costs like trucks and warehouses. \nApoorva Mehta started the company in 2012 after having worked on Amazon's supply chain process, having seen the company's difficulties with grocery delivery firsthand.\nThe company now operates in ten major cities and has plans to expand into seven more by the end of 2014. Instacart says it can launch in a new city in just two to three weeks due to the simplicity of its model.\nMehta said that the company plans to use the funding to fuel its expansion.\n\u201CWe\u2019ve proven out our model in 10 cities across the U.S., and it works,\u201D Mehta said in the press release. \u201CInstacart\u2019s customer base in every city is growing by double digits monthly, and we\u2019ve developed a great playbook for geographic expansions. This funding will enable us to expand even more quickly and establish a wide, national footprint over the next 18 months.\u201D\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/06/16/instacart-44-million-funding/>