Tovala

David Rabi wanted food that was delicious, healthy, and convenient, and he found that every option he considered required a compromise. Meal kits still meant prep, cooking, and cleanup. Frozen food was not fresh. Takeout left him unsure what was in his food. He concluded that the only way to guarantee quality was to control every link in the chain, from sourcing ingredients to cooking them well. His interest in food was rooted in a health retreat at age 18, which he said set him on a lasting path toward healthy eating.

Rabi's first ideas were vending machines, and he researched automation in that space before settling on a kitchen appliance. The idea crystallized one Sunday while he was using five appliances to cook a week's worth of food. He wanted a single device that could cook grains, vegetables, and proteins with different requirements at the press of a button. From there the idea grew to include the software, the ingredients, and the prep.

The team chose not to reinvent the oven. They sourced a steam oven from an existing manufacturer, because steam keeps food moist and it was a proven product. Their stated MVP had three requirements: the oven had to work, work consistently, and make food taste good. Early on, the team ran a garage production line, placed ovens in homes, collected feedback, and delivered meals themselves.

Tovala's first base came from a Kickstarter campaign. Before launch, the founders ran a press tour in New York, the Bay Area, and LA, bringing a working prototype and food they had cooked into meetings with journalists. On launch day, the team texted and messaged almost everyone they knew, posted on Facebook and LinkedIn, and asked their networks to share the campaign and help it reach its first-day goal. Before that, they had collected beta-tester emails to build buzz.

Rabi credited the business plan competition win and Y Combinator acceptance with giving investors enough confidence to fund the company, after early investors were hesitant about a prototype and a single founder. Customer feedback also shaped the product: the initial app had only eight basic recipes, and customers asked for more. The team spent about six months rebuilding the app, and usage of customers cooking their own food almost doubled afterward.

Rabi also described an earlier venture, Draftpedia, a basketball sports-encyclopedia app that reached tens of thousands of downloads but was shut down, in part because the team had hired a poor developer and had waited too long to end it.

In the interview, the host noted that Tovala had over 50 employees and that YouTube reviews of the oven were glowing. Rabi said the company has kept most of its team since the start and remains based in Chicago, chosen for its talent pipeline and lower costs compared with the West Coast.