Tovala is a meal-kit and

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool that is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...

company based in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. It sells a series of smart ovens that combine

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...

, broiling, air frying, and steam cooking and which can be controlled by an app.

History

Tovala was co-founded in 2015 by CEO David Rabie and CTO Bryan Wilcox. It won a venture challenge at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. Initially named Maestro and nicknamed the "

Keurig Keurig () is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The North American company Keurig Dr Pepper manufactures the machines. The main Keurig products are K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; an ...

for food," it launched with a Kickstarter in January 2016 that raised $256,000. That year, it was also accepted into the

Y Combinator Y Combinator, LLC (YC) is an American technology startup accelerator and venture capital firm launched in March 2005 which has been used to launch more than 5,000 companies. The accelerator program started in Boston and Mountain View, Californi ...

accelerator program. Tovala launched to the general public in 2017. It also raised a $9.2 million Series A round that year, led by Origin Ventures, and acquired the Chicago-based food-delivery service Radish. In 2020, the company raised a $20 million Series B round of capital, led by Finistere Ventures and including

Comcast Ventures Comcast Ventures is a corporate venture capital firm headquartered in New York, NY. History In early 2011, Comcast and NBCUniversal combined their two venture arms, Comcast Interactive Capital founded in 1999 and the Peacock Fund, to form Comcas ...

OurCrowd OurCrowd is an online global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individual accredited investors to invest and engage in emerging technology companies at an early stage while still privately held. Based in Jerusalem, the com ...

Rich Products Rich Products Corporation (also known as Rich's) is a privately held multinational food products corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company was founded in 1945 by Robert E. Rich, Sr., after his development of a non-dairy whipped ...

Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, and the

. It added a $30 million Series C round in 2021, led by Left Lane Capital. As of 2024, it has raised a total of $68.6 million and employs about 375 people. The company has released several generations of its countertop smart ovens, most recently the Tovala Smart Oven and the Tovala Smart Oven Pro, which includes steam cooking. They have ranged in price from $300 to $400, which substantial discounts for customers who also sign up for the company's meal-kit service.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Online food retailers of the United States American companies established in 2015 Retail companies established in 2015 Transport companies established in 2015 Internet properties established in 2015 Food and drink companies based in Chicago Subscription services 2015 establishments in Illinois