California tech company acquires Rosie of Ithaca

ITHACA, N.Y. — A California tech company on Wednesday announced it has acquired Rosie, the Ithaca–based e-commerce platform for local and independent retailers and wholesalers.

San Francisco–based Instacart, which describes itself as the “leading grocery technology company in North America,” has purchased Rosie for an undisclosed sum.

Rosie operates at 171 E. State St. in Ithaca. On its website, it now refers to itself as an Instacart company.

Instacart tells CNYBJ that Rosie will maintain its operations in Ithaca but wasn’t able to provide specific figures on the number of Rosie employees joining the firm.

With this acquisition, Instacart says it is “deepening its commitment” to serving local and independent grocers and expanding its Instacart Platform e-commerce offerings. The company didn’t release any terms of its acquisition agreement with Rosie.

In acquiring Rosie, Instacart is introducing new e-commerce services built specifically for local and independent retailers that complement the company’s existing Instacart Platform offerings. Through the Instacart Platform, Instacart is “further enabling grocers to chart their own digital transformation through a suite of enterprise-grade technologies.”

With Instacart Platform, Instacart says it gives retailers access to the solutions behind Instacart’s consumer marketplace, helping retailers like Tops Friendly Markets, create new online and in-store solutions that “enhance the customer experience and help their businesses grow.”

Moving forward, the Rosie team will lead Instacart’s business strategy and technology development for local independent grocers, as Instacart continues to “build best-in-class e-commerce and fulfillment solutions for this critical segment of the grocery industry,” per its news release.

About Rosie

Founded in Ithaca in 2013, Rosie has spent nearly a decade building relationships and supporting local and independent retailers across more than 40 states. Rosie offers independent grocers branded e-commerce websites and mobile-app capabilities that power order flow, fulfillment, and customer insights.

Rosie’s product features include shoppable weekly ads, store loyalty and rewards programs integrations, third-party fulfillment logistics integrations, and payment processing — all developed for local and independent grocers.