US-based smart oven producer Tovala closed a $30m series C round yesterday featuring Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mass media company Comcast.
The round was led by investment group Left Lane Capital with participation from OurCrowd, Origin Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and private investor Joe Mansueto.
Founded in 2017 as a University of Chicago spinout, Tovala offers premade meals with a barcode that can scanned through its consumer smart oven to cook the food quickly and precisely. The funding will go to building a new production plant and expanding the company’s team.
The company closed a $20m series B round in June 2020 led by Finistere Ventures and backed by Comcast Ventures and Rich Products Ventures, a subsidiary of packaged food supplier Rich Products.
The June round included OurCrowd, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, New Stack Ventures and Gordon Segal, founder of home furnishings retail chain Crate & Barrel, and followed an undisclosed amount from meat supplier Tyson Foods’ investment arm, Tyson Ventures, in 2018.
Origin Ventures led Tovala’s $9.2m series A round in 2017 with backing from University of Chicago’s co-investment fund, Startup Investment Program, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Y Combinator and assorted angel investors.
Tovala had secured $1.6m in a 2016 seed round led by Origin Ventures that also featured digital media company Gree, New Stack Ventures and Service Provider Capital. It came after $500,000 from Origin Ventures, Valor Equity, New Stack Ventures and various individuals earlier that year.