This startup is empowering women by connecting home chefs with hungry office workers

CNN

30-01-2025

Durdona Atametova always dreamed of being a chef, but she didn't know how to get started.
Based in the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan, she saw an Instagram ad for a chef-training program run by Coozin, a local food delivery startup catering to offices in the capital, Tashkent. She signed up for the course, which taught her how to cook for delivery, focusing on consistency and portion size.
Now, the 22-year-old has been running her own business for a year. Each day, she receives dozens of orders for her home-cooked dishes from corporate clients, like banks, via Coozin's digital platform; delivery drivers pick up the meals from her home and drop them off to hungry office workers.
Coozin, which was launched in 2020, also provides ongoing education for its vendors on topics like social media marketing. Atametova said that previously she felt unsure about starting her own business, 'because you need to know how to do marketing, advertising … that's really hard for one woman.' But the platform helped her overcome her uncertainty.
Uzbekistan has made big strides in improving gender equality in recent years, according to the World Bank. Still, the labor force participation rate for females was 39.9% in 2023, compared with 72.8% for men.
That's at least in part due to societal expectations for women to stay at home to take care of their families, according to Kate Gromova, co-founder of the US-based consultancy Women in Digital Transformation.
Although efforts are being made to improve the situation, gender-related stereotypes, social norms and biased attitudes are core drivers of gender inequality in Uzbekistan, according to a UN Development Program report, which Gromova contributed to.
But platforms like Coozin are helping to provide opportunities for women to earn income by doing something they're already comfortable with.
'We're trying to help households that would struggle to get into the market otherwise,' said Coozin's founder Murod Khusanov. 'We try to bridge the gap between them and the market with a digital solution.'
About 70 women are active on the platform, and approximately 100 companies are enrolled in the system, placing up to 1,500 orders each day. This year, Coozin hopes to scale up to 7,500 orders a day and employ at least 200 women. The company also hopes to expand into other regions of Uzbekistan.
For Atametova, working with Coozin has allowed her to start her dream business. She says she's earned some loyal customers, including a bank that she's received orders from daily for the last five months.
'When a big company supports you, it's easier to do this,' she said. 'It gives me the opportunity to stay at home, do my own job, and make a profit.'