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Apoorva Mehta's Tryst With Success

After unsuccessful attempts at establishing 20 startups, Apoorva Mehta eventually achieved success with the launch of Instacart. Today, the young entrepreneur with a never-say-die attitude has a net worth of $1.1 billion.

In the process of achieving an objective in life, we may encounter challenges. And not all challenges lead to success; but when we accept failure as part of the process, we will be encouraged to never give up. The adage goes: "If you have never failed, you have never lived." In response to a question about his unsuccessful attempts at inventing an electric bulb, Thomas Edison once said, "I have not failed 10,000 times—I've successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work." After failing at nearly 20 businesses, 38-year-old Apoorva Mehta, the former employee of Amazon, eventually achieved success with Instacart, the online grocery delivery company. Determination and perseverance turned Apoorva Mehta into a billionaire. Today, his estimated net worth is $1.1 billion.

Apoorva Mehta was born in 1986 in Jodhpur, India. His parents moved to Libya shortly after he was born, where his father worked for an electric transmission line company. The family moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 2000 when he was 14. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Initially, he worked for four months as a design engineer at Blackberry and Qualcomm. Thereafter, he secured a job in Amazon in 2008 as a supply-chain engineer.

In 2010, Apoorva Mehta left Amazon and moved to San Francisco fueled by his ambition to be an entrepreneur. Between 2010 and 2012, he launched 20 startups. But almost all of them were unsuccessful. Among them were an advertising startup for gaming companies and a social network for lawyers. Once while in San Francisco in his apartment he realized that all he had in his refrigerator was a bottle of hot sauce. And back then in 2012 people could purchase all they wanted online except groceries. He foresaw the great potential in delivering groceries to customers online. He realised that it was a treasure trove waiting to be discovered. 

Apoorva Mehta founded Instacart in 2012 at age 26. After missing a funding opportunity initially through Y Combinator, he sought a meeting with Y Combinator's partner. He fixed the meeting by using the Instacart mobile app to deliver a six-pack of beer from 21st Amendment Brewery. Impressed by this, Y Combinator's partner helped Apoorva Mehta raise $2.3 million in funding. And this led to a meeting with his two would-be co-founders, Max Mullen and Brandon Leonardo.

Instacart, Grocery Delivery Platform 

Instacart, initially launched in San Francisco in 2012, has since expanded across the US and Canada. Instacart, now owned by Maplebear Inc., was developed for the purpose of simplifying grocery shopping for people who were busy at work and didn't have the time to visit a grocery store. But Instacart could help them choose all their groceries from wherever they may be. Instacart is now the top grocery delivery service in the US valued at over $17 billion. It has fundamentally changed the grocery industry by developing unique technologies and an e-commerce platform, which helps grocers connect online with customers through same-day delivery and pickup services. 

In July 2021, Apoorva Mehta resigned as CEO and became the executive chairman. He left the company entirely in September 2023. Although he stepped down as Instacart CEO and subsequently from the company's board, he still owns the largest stake in the firm. Speaking about his decision to leave Instacart, he observed that he didn't want his legacy to be defined by just one company. Besides, he wanted to focus on his new startup as an entrepreneur. He is proud of his achievement at founding Instacart, which he says was completely a new model that resonated not only with customers but also with people who picked and delivered groceries.

In 2022, he founded Cloud Health Systems, a medical consulting venture. The company raised $30 million in seed funding, backed by Joshua Kushner's capital firm, Thrive Capital. Currently, he is focused on his health-tech startup, which serves in the B2B segment of the health-tech sector. It is a provider of diversified medical consultations and healthcare services.

Many successful people have experienced failure in their lives. But it is often these setbacks that led to their ultimate success. Staying focused on goals and persevering through setbacks, failure can be turned into a stepping stone towards success.

(Photo: Courtesy Company Site)

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