The Kara Goldin Show | 824 David Rabie: Founder & CEO of Tovala

The Kara Goldin Show | 824 David Rabie: Founder & CEO of Tovala

From The Kara Goldin Show by CommerceTracks

April 10, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

David Rabie discusses the founding and success of Tovala, a smart oven and meal service that simplifies home cooking.

On today’s episode, we welcome David Rabie, Founder and CEO of Tovala — the smart oven and chef-prepared meal service transforming how people cook and eat at home. What started as an idea while David was earning his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has grown into a category-defining business that combines food, software, and hardware to make fresh meals easier than ever. With a simple scan of a QR code, Tovala’s countertop smart oven automatically cooks chef-prepared meals using thousands of tested cook combinations — eliminating the need for planning, chopping, or cleanup. Inspired by the everyday challenge of finding time to cook fresh meals at home, David combined his passion for food and technology to build a completely new model for modern home cooking. Since launching in 2017, Tovala has sold more than 40 million meals nationwide and built one of the most loyal customer bases in the meal delivery category. By vertically integrating the oven, software, and food experience, the company has been able to deliver consistency, convenience, and quality at scale. In this episode, David shares the early inspiration behind Tovala, how he thought about margins…

People in this episode

Guest: David Rabie

Topics covered

  • smart oven
  • meal delivery
  • food technology
  • entrepreneurship
  • vertical integration

Keywords

  • cooking
  • business fundamentals
  • financial collapse
  • customer loyalty

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Tovala

Books & works: The Kara Goldin Show

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