Tovala

Tovala was co-founded in 2015 by CEO David Rabie and CTO Bryan Wilcox. It won a venture challenge at the University of Chicago.^[3] Initially named Maestro and nicknamed the "Keurig for food," it launched with a Kickstarter in January 2016 that raised $256,000.^[4] That year, it was also accepted into the Y Combinator accelerator program.^[5][1][6]

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.^{[7][8][9][10]} In 2020, the company raised a $20 million Series B round of capital, led by Finistere Ventures and including Comcast Ventures, OurCrowd, Rich Products Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, and the University of Chicago.^[11][12] It added a $30 million Series C round in 2021, led by Left Lane Capital.^[13][14] As of 2024, it has raised a total of $68.6 million and employs about 375 people.^[1]

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.^[15][16] They have ranged in price from $300 to $400, with substantial discounts for customers who also sign up for the company's meal-kit service.^[17]

• Official website