By Granth Vanaik

May 7 (Reuters) - Instacart customers will now

be able to use the grocery delivery platform's app to order from

hundreds of thousands of Uber Eats restaurant partners across

the U.S., as part of a partnership between the two companies,

they said on Tuesday.

Instacart, formally known as Maplebear ( CART ), has been investing

to improve its platform services and increasing its marketing

spend to attract more customers amid stiff competition from

DoorDash ( DASH ), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Walmart ( WMT ).

Shares of Instacart were up 4% before the bell, while Uber

Technologies ( UBER ) was up marginally after the announcement.

Shares of rival DoorDash ( DASH ), the top U.S. food delivery player,

were down 2.3%.

"The new team will pose tough competition for some of the

other food delivery companies like DoorDash ( DASH ), in what has already

been a hyper competitive landscape," said Art Hogan, chief

market strategist at B. Riley Wealth.

Instacart said there would be a new tab on its app that

would allow customers to choose from a selection of nearby

restaurants, browse menus, place orders and track deliveries in

real time.

Orders placed on its platform from restaurants would be

delivered by Uber Eats and their workers, Instacart added.

"This new strategic partnership with Instacart will ...

drive more business for restaurants, and create more earnings

opportunities for couriers," said Uber ( UBER ) CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Customers with Instacart Plus membership would also be able

to get free delivery on both grocery and restaurant orders that

are more than $35.

"DoorDash ( DASH ) has a significant lead in restaurant delivery and

its grocery business is growing. It's no surprise that Instacart

sees this as a threat and wants to woo its customers with a more

comprehensive delivery offering," said Emarketer analyst Blake

Droesch.

Instacart and Uber ( UBER ) are both set to report their

first-quarter results on Wednesday.