According to Calcalist (19.07.2026), Instacart acquired Arpalus, a Netanya-based startup founded in 2019 by Ofir Zilberberg (CEO, a former Israeli Air Force and Elbit Systems veteran) and Dr. Rotem Benet (a computer-vision expert, formerly of Microsoft Research). Arpalus, which employs about 20 people, has raised about $5 million from investors including the Innovation Authority, True Global Ventures, Duo Partners, the Techstars accelerator, and private retail-sector investors. The deal's value wasn't officially disclosed, but industry estimates put it at "tens of millions of dollars." Arpalus's technology solves a complex retail challenge: real-time tracking of product inventory on physical shelves, identifying individual items with "over 95% accuracy" despite challenging conditions — variable lighting, weak connectivity, and thousands of similar-looking products packed densely together. Instacart plans to integrate the technology directly into its consumer app (which serves about 600,000 independent "shoppers"), letting customers scan shelves while ordering and giving retailers real-time inventory visibility that reduces stockouts, catalog gaps, and last-minute order cancellations. DC Velocity (dated 20.07.2026, a day after Calcalist's report) covers the same deal from an American industry-press angle, quoting David McIntosh, Instacart's Chief Connected Stores Officer: "The future of grocery retail is a unified experience powered by Instacart intelligence, where what happens in store connects seamlessly to ecommerce in real time." According to the report, Instacart (founded 2012, headquartered in San Francisco, NASDAQ-listed since 2023, valued at about $11 billion) connects about 1,800 retailers and about 600,000 independent shoppers/drivers across the US and Canada.
Instacart's First Israeli Acquisition: How a Netanya Startup Will Tell It What's Actually on the Shelf
American food-delivery giant Instacart has acquired Israeli startup Arpalus, which develops computer-vision technology for tracking supermarket shelf inventory — the company's first acquisition in Israel. The deal's value wasn't disclosed, but industry estimates put it at "tens of millions of dollars."
Why it matters
This is Instacart's first acquisition in Israel, and it demonstrates how Israeli computer-vision technology — a field where Israel is considered a global powerhouse — is being integrated directly into the core infrastructure of a multi-billion-dollar publicly traded American food-delivery giant. The deal also illustrates that the problem of "what's actually on the shelf" remains a significant technology gap in American food retail, even for an advanced player like Instacart.
What's next
If the integration of Arpalus's technology succeeds in significantly reducing stockouts and order cancellations, similar acquisitions of Israeli retail computer-vision startups by other global delivery/retail players are possible.
Verified facts
- Instacart acquired Israeli startup Arpalus (Netanya, founded 2019 by Ofir Zilberberg and Rotem Benet) — its first acquisition in Israel (Calcalist)
- Arpalus employs about 20 people and has raised about $5 million; the deal's value wasn't disclosed, with estimates of "tens of millions of dollars" (Calcalist)
- Arpalus's technology identifies shelf items with "over 95% accuracy" (Calcalist, DC Velocity)
- Instacart will integrate the technology into the app serving about 600,000 independent shoppers (Calcalist, DC Velocity)
- Instacart facts: founded 2012, NASDAQ-listed since 2023, valued at about $11 billion (Calcalist)