Instacart acquires Caper AI

North American online grocery platform operating as a deployer of physical AI systems in retail and fulfillment. Instacart acquired [Caper AI](/companies/caper-ai) in 2021 for $350M to deploy AI-powered smart shopping carts with computer vision and weight sensors at major grocery retailers including [Kroger](/companies/kroger), Wakefern, Schnucks, and Sobeys. The company also partnered with [Fabric](/companies/fabric) to build robotic micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs) for automated grocery order picking. Instacart went public as Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ: CART) in September 2023 at $30/share, raising $660M. The company reported $3.74B revenue in 2025 and acquired Caper AI co-founder Lindon Gao's smart cart technology to unify in-store and online commerce.

Caper AI was a New York-based startup developing AI-powered smart shopping carts for autonomous checkout. Founded by Lindon Gao, the company raised $10M Series A and was acquired by [Instacart](/companies/instacart) for $350M in 2021. The founder subsequently launched a new robotics startup.