Dive Brief:

• Instacart announced on Thursday that it’s appointing Fidji Simo as CEO, replacing Apoorva Mehta, who will become executive board chairman.
• Simo, who joined the e-commerce company’s board in January, will assume the top role on Aug. 2. She most recently served as vice president and head of the Facebook app. 
• The new CEO appointment follows a string of recent executive hires by Instacart from high-profile technology companies like Facebook, Amazon and Google. 

Dive Insight:

During her time at Facebook, Simo helped the company transition from private to public — potentially key experience as Instacart eyes an initial public offering. 

As a consumer technology industry veteran, who spent 10 years at Facebook and four at eBay before that, Simo brings experience in mobile monetization strategy, product management and advertising from her time at the social media company. While at Facebook, Simo oversaw development and strategy for the Facebook app, including several features like News Feed, Stories, Groups, Video, Marketplace, Gaming, News, Dating and Ads.  

“Over the last decade at Facebook, she’s been a part of every big moment in the company’s history including helping it grow from 1,000 to nearly 100,000 people and leading the world's most popular app,” Mehta said in a statement. 

Mehta asked Simo to join Instacart’s board and since she started in January, he said he’s “been blown away” by her leadership. “Fidji will simply be a better CEO than me for Instacart’s coming years,” Mehta wrote in an online post. “I won’t pretend that it was an easy decision. Instacart has been my life’s work.”

Mehta founded Instacart in 2012. In his new role on the board, he said he will continue to remain involved in the day-to-day operations and work with Simo on long-term moves. When looking to the future, Simo said she expects customers will want faster delivery times, more personalization options and more convenient online shopping when buying food. 

Simo joins three other recent hires by Instacart from Facebook: Chief Operating Officer Asha Sharma, Vice President of Product for Instacart App Max Eulenstein and Vice President of Product for International Nikila Srinivasan.