Direct-to-consumer cookware company Made In announced on Wednesday that it has whipped up $5 million in seed funding to help scale the company.
Founded in 2017, Made In sells high-end cookware directly to consumers, following in the footsteps of e-commerce companies like Bonobos and Casper. As part of its marketing strategy, the company has partnered with chefs like Alinea Group’s Grant Achatz and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio to produce cooking tutorial videos from its Austin-based test kitchen.
This [round] is pouring gas on the fire to get the word out about Made In to a bigger audience.”
The company said it had amassed a wait list of over 10,000 customers for the launch of its new cookware line last year.
“That first year was about proof of concept and market fit, and we feel like we achieved that,” said Made In CEO and co-founder Chip Malt. “This [round] is pouring gas on the fire to get the word out about Made In to a bigger audience.”
Brian Splay, the founder of both Trunk Club and Bonobos, led the round, along with investments from Starting Line Ventures, The Alinea Group co-founders Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas, Chef Tim Douglas, and more.
The investments will be used to propel product development, scale production and expand the team of six. Malt said they’re looking to grow to 10 employees, and bring on a VP of finance and a full-stack developer. The funding will also allow the company to travel to more factories around the world to research and add to its cookware line.
The investment follows Made In’s seed-1 funding in August 2018, and brings its total funding to $8.33 million.
