My startup is profitable and made over $100M in 6 months. I still worry it could all disappear. Sep 28, 2026, 3:52 AM PT This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with David Rabie, founder of Tovala. It has been edited for length and clarity. When I was in business school, I was cooking dinner for myself one day, prepping meals for the week. I was using my oven, the stovetop, and a countertop steam machine, spending hours turning dials and pushing buttons. I thought, couldn't this be automated? That was the seed of the idea for my company, Tovala, which launched in 2015. Tovala is a meal service that allows users to cook at home, simply. Once you purchase a Tovala oven, you get fresh meals delivered weekly. You scan a code, and have a home-cooked meal in 20 minutes. I wanted to provide a solution that lets busy people like me create a home-cooked meal without spending hours in the kitchen. The product evolved over time, but we stuck to that core tenet: a meal made with raw ingredients, but without the fuss. My family's immigration story shaped my outlook. Before I created Tovala, I was looking for business opportunities. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur; I just didn't know what my business would be. My family immigrated from Iran, and almost all of them became entrepreneurs, including my dad, who developed properties. My family - like many immigrants who find success in the US - is a big believer in the American dream. I was raised on the idea that if you have an idea in this country and the resilience and grit to pursue it, you can achieve success. Since that was instilled in me from a very young age, I always thought I would achieve my goal of being an entrepreneur. My family's experience also gave me a higher tolerance for risk. I was colored by the stories I heard growing up. Compared to what my extended family had to go through leaving Iran, figuring out life and business in this country felt easy. Creating the product with a small team was difficult. I would need that risk tolerance more than I realized. Tovala had early successes, including winning a $70,000 prize in a new venture challenge at the University of Chicago. And yet, even with that funding, launching the company was difficult. I needed money to hire a team and develop the product. And yet, without that team, I didn't have the tech I needed to prove the concept to investors. I needed one to get the other, and balancing that was difficult and lonely. I managed to make it work with a small team that took very modest salaries. When we launched a Kickstarter and reached $100,000 in sales, we celebrated wildly. The immediate feedback was that this was a product people wanted to buy. Overcoming challenges became part of our company lore. That wasn't the end of the challenges - not even close. In March of 2020, we were slated to close on our Series B fundraise. The deal came apart at the 11th hour, after a conflict of interest surfaced. I had a newborn at the time, and the pandemic was starting to shut down the global economy. It felt like a confluence of really horrible things. It was a pretty dark time. However, once we survived, that story became part of company lore. That helped in 2023, when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. We had almost all our cash tied up there, and we weren't yet profitable. For a very stressful three days, we weren't sure we would get our money back. Still, we were fairly assured that we'd take it through, just like we did when the series B collapsed. The company is successful, and I've learned to live with worry. Today, Tovala has done more than $100 million in revenue during the past six months. The business has matured, and the team has grown. We've been profitable since 2024, which has taken a huge stressor off me. And yet, a little part of me is still worried that it will all go back to zero. I think I've lived with that risk for so long that it won't ever fully leave me. Over ten years in business, I've learned to continue to grow in spite of it.

Tovala and Fly By Jing bring Chili Crisp to the dinner table with new chef-crafted meals. Aug. 19, 2026 at 12:40 pm Tovala, the smart oven company making it easier to enjoy fresh, flavorful meals at home, today announced its latest collaboration with Fly By Jing, the modern food brand known for its signature Sichuan chili crisp. Together, the brands are introducing a new collection of chef-crafted meals that combine Tovala's convenient Scan, Cook, Drizzle experience with Fly By Jing's beloved chili crisp, giving home cooks an easy way to explore new flavors in their everyday meals. As chili crisp continues to become a pantry staple for home cooks, Tovala and Fly By Jing are helping Americans discover new ways to incorporate the versatile ingredient into their routines. The collaboration brings together Tovala's chef-developed recipes and smart oven technology with Fly By Jing's signature condiment to create convenient meals that allow customers to customize each dish to their own taste. The collaboration features three new Tovala meals, each developed by Tovala's culinary team to showcase the versatility of Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp. The lineup includes Spicy Honey-Glazed (available with chicken thigh or pork tenderloin options), Ground Pork Dan Dan Noodles with Chili Crisp, and Teriyaki Chili Crisp Baby Back Ribs. Each meal includes an individual packet of Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp for customers to add after cooking, allowing them to personalize the level of flavor and heat in every bite. "Great meals should make it easy to discover new flavors without adding extra work in the kitchen," said Chef Chrissy, Tovala's in-house chef. "With these meals, we wanted to pair the convenience of the Tovala experience with the craveable flavor of Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp, giving customers an easy way to try something new while enjoying a chef-crafted meal at home." "Chili crisp makes everything better - that's always been true, and more people are finally catching on. What I love about working with Chef Chrissy and the Tovala team is that they approach food the way I do: with real care for food and a belief that people deserve restaurant-quality flavors at home, without the hassle. Dan dan noodles made the way they should be, baby back ribs with chili crisp glaze, a chili crisp ranch you'll crave more of - this is chili crisp doing exactly what it was born to do," said Jing Gao, Founder of Fly By Jing. The collaboration adds to Tovala's growing roster of partnerships with standout food brands, bringing together innovative companies to create new ways for customers to enjoy fresh, flavorful meals at home. The Tovala x Fly By Jing meal collection will be available beginning August 19 to customers throughout the continental U.S. through Tovala's meal subscription service. To learn more, visit tovala.com or follow @tovalafood on Instagram and Facebook. About Tovala Tovala is a leader in the meal delivery space, offering a unique twist on traditional meal services by combining chef-crafted meals with smart oven technology. With the scan of a QR code, customers can enjoy fresh, pre-prepped meals that cook automatically, creating a seamless dining experience. The Tovala app expands this convenience by unlocking hundreds of chef-tested recipes and enabling the smart oven to scan and cook over 1,000 name-brand groceries with one touch. About Fly By Jing Fly By Jing is a revolutionary Chinese food company that brings thoughtfully crafted pantry staples to the modern kitchen. The brand is committed to highly charged flavors and 100% real ingredients that elevate every meal from ordinary to extraordinary. Their best-selling Sichuan Chili Crisp is a testament to this, offering a symphony of bold, authentic flavors that awaken the palate with every bite. After debuting in 2018 with a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign, Fly By Jing has gone on to pioneer a new category for Asian condiments and make an indelible mark on the culinary landscape of America. As a B Corp certified company, Fly By Jing products are vegan, Non-GMO Project Verified, with no MSG, artificial preservatives, or flavors, providing customers with nothing but the best taste experience. Developed by Jing Gao, a chef, entrepreneur, cookbook author, and renowned expert on Chinese cuisine, the Los Angeles-based company is on a mission to evolve culture through taste, and expand palates and minds. Fly By Jing's products can be found nationwide at major retailers including Target, Costco, Whole Foods Market, Walmart, Wegmans, HEB, and more. Unlock the articles, expert interviews, and data reports that power the food and beverage industry. Join our community and stay ahead with exclusive insights from BevNET and Nosh.

Tovala, a meal-kit delivery company, has achieved profitability by combining hardware and food delivery. CEO David Rabie explained that customers use Tovala's countertop oven to prepare meals by scanning QR codes, which download cooking instructions from the cloud. The company has delivered 50 million meals and is approaching $200 million in annual revenue, growing roughly 20% year over year. Rabie attributes success to the hardware model, comparing it to Nespresso or Keurig, which creates customer retention that traditional meal-kit services like HelloFresh and Blue Apron struggle to achieve. Tovala has been profitable for nearly three years. The company recently raised prices for the first time in years without significant customer loss, suggesting strong consumer demand despite broader economic concerns.