Tovala makes a connected countertop oven paired with a meal subscription and pre-made trays that cook via barcode scanning and app-driven recipes. The company sells ovens (typically $299 with promotional discounts) and a curated meal service and also supports full-size LG ovens through a software deal. It plans to use new funding to open a second distribution facility, most likely in Utah, to better serve the western U.S., and to invest in customer service and hiring. Tovala is expanding meal options via partnerships with restaurants and chefs to offer pre-made meals for its oven. Operating metrics disclosed include tenfold annualized revenue growth over the past 18 months, a 40% increase in employee headcount year-over-year, over 3 million meals shipped, and ovens being used an average of 32 times per month by owners. The company was incubated at Y Combinator and is based in Chicago. Tovala sells a smart convection/broiling/steaming oven paired with ready-to-cook meal kits that are pre-chopped and pre-sauced; customers scan QR codes in the Tovala app and the oven finishes cooking automatically. The oven can also be used as a conventional oven and is pre-programmed with profiles for roughly 750 other ready-meals. The standalone oven retails for $299 or $199 with a six-meal commitment, and single-serving meals currently sell for $11.99. The company launched its service in 2017 and reports it has sold over 1 million meals to customers since then, with dramatic growth in the past 10 months that Rabie attributes in part to COVID-19. Tovala was incubated at Y Combinator and is based in Chicago. The company has pursued partnerships (e.g., an LG distribution partnership) and occasional chef pop-ups, and has discussed potential collaborations with food industry investors like Tyson and others. Tovala builds a steam-based countertop oven sold alongside a subscription meal-kit service and smartphone app that lets users cook meals at the touch of a button. The oven retails for $399, with discounts that cut the price to $199 when customers buy 24 Tovala meals or knock $100 off with a four-meal purchase. CEO David Rabie has described the company’s vision as a “Netflix of food,” and Tovala is pursuing broader partnerships to expand its meal offerings. The company is Chicago-based and was cofounded by Rabie and engineer Brian Wilcox; it graduated from Y Combinator in 2016. Financially, Tovala raised a $9.2 million funding round led by Origin Ventures late last year and has taken an additional, undisclosed investment from Tyson Ventures tied to a partnership to develop Tyson-branded Tovala meals. Tovala makes $399 ‘smart’ steam ovens and a companion meal service that cooks in the device. The oven can be operated remotely via an app and is said to bake, boil and steam meals at up to 550°F in 10–30 minutes. It works with both prepackaged Tovala meals and customers’ own food. The company views its meal delivery/subscription service as the primary revenue driver. Tovala recently raised $9.2 million in fresh funding, bringing its total funding to $11.5 million. The startup went through Y Combinator last winter and faces a crowded, competitive meal-kit and appliance market. Tovala sells a connected oven paired with a subscription-like marketplace that delivers fresh, oven-ready meals; each meal contains a barcode that instructs the oven to pull the recipe from the cloud and cook accordingly. Founded by David Rabie and Bryan Wilcox, the company ran a Kickstarter that has pledged more than $255,000 and spurred approximately 1,000 oven purchases. By December the company planned to ship nearly 700 units, with the remainder expected to be distributed in March and general sales opening March 1. The oven’s estimated retail price is $329. Tovala raised $1.6 million in a recent funding round to accelerate oven delivery and support the public launch. Including a prior $500,000 pre-seed round, also led by Origin Ventures, the company has more than $2.1 million in total funding.

Total raised

$61M

Funding rounds

6

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Feb 2021