Alinea Group, Other Chicago Investors Back Austin Cookware Startup Made In

Some products seem relatively disruption-proof. Their designs and standards so time-tested that there doesn’t seem to be much room for the next thing.

Cookware is not one of those things. Case-in-point, Austin-based Made In, which sells pots, pans and other home cookwares direct to consumers, has developed a business in two short years that now has a multi-million dollar run rate and landed a spot as one of TIME Magazine’s best inventions of the year.

On Wednesday, the company closed a $5 million seed funding round with backing from several Chicago investors. The round was co-led by Brian Spaly, founder of Trunk Club and Bonbos, and Ezra Galston, the founder of Starting Line Ventures and a previous VC at Chicago Ventures. Also backing Made In was Alinea Group co-founders Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas. Kokonas, who is also the founder of Chicago restaurant reservation startup Tock, announced on Instagram that the Alinea Group will work with Made In to create new products and will use Made In at its restaurants.

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The Alinea Group is excited to announce that we've invested in MadeIn Cookware and will be working with them exclusively to create new products. For years we've been approached to merely endorse pots, pans, knives, and more and have always waited to find a company that takes the same innovative, direct to consumer approach that we do with our restaurants, books, and products at TAG. When we met Jake and Chip, the founders of MadeIn, we knew we found partners that think like we do... and we immediately invested. Check out www.madeincookware.com and look for new releases in the upcoming months. We'll be using MadeIn at our restaurants and homes... highest quality, no retailer means better pricing for a superior product.

A post shared by Nick Kokonas (@nkokonas) on Apr 2, 2019 at 10:15am PDT

Made In was founded by Jake Kalick and Chip Malt with an aim to provide professional-level cookware to home chefs at a lower cost than competitors.

“Made In is a first mover in the direct-to-consumer space targeting cookware,” Spaly said in a news release. “There have been many branded success stories based on this model, from ballet flats to eyeglasses, and Made In is poised to thrive in the kitchen space.”

As part of the deal, Spaly will join Made In’s board of directors. Additional investors in the new round include Chef Tom Douglas; Barry Sternlicht, founder of Starwood Capital; and The Labora Group. They join original investor KarpReilly and Chef Tom Colicchio, who is also an advisory board member.

Made In has raised a total of $8.3 million so far, and its cookwares have become so popular and publicized that the company has a waitlist for some of its products and release dates listed for others.

Other investors named include Ben McKean, founder of Hungry Root; Paul Hedrick, founder of Tecovas; Josh Deckard, former assistant press secretary of George H. Bush; Ed Wilson, former president of Tribune Broadcasting; Jim Moroney; 30/30 Ventures; Fabulous Brands; Social Start Capital and Finn Capital.