AUSTIN, Texas — Tiff's Treats, the popular Austin-based cookie business, has become a $500 million business, according to a report from KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman.
The milestone comes amid a new multimillion-dollar investment, the company told the Statesman. Tiff's Treats raised $30 million from undisclosed investors, the Statesman reported.
In 1999, owners Tiffany and Leon Chen started a small cookie shop out of their apartment near the University of Texas. The college couple put up fliers around campus ready for their big day, but three days went by without a single call.
"It was pretty embarrassing, but on the next day we had someone named Amy call us," Leon Chen said.
The blonde college student called in and ordered cookies for her boyfriend at the UT Towers Apartments and tipped Leon $5 after he delivered the cookies. Amy was the company's first ever customer. Twenty-two years later on the anniversary of their business, the Chens put a callout to find their first customer, and they did.
A business that started with $20, a cell phone and a dream – inspired by one of the sweetest love stories – has boomed into one of Austin's successful startups.
Leon Chen told the Statesman that the company has raised over $100 million and has 1,700 employees nationwide, with 400 of those in Austin.
"We have been on a hiring spree of late, having grown our headquarters team by 50% since the start of the pandemic and hiring hundreds of new store staff since the pandemic began," Leon Chen told the Statesman. "We expect to grow our workforce by another 30% over the next year, as a best guess."
Read the Statesman's full report on the company's new milestone here.
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