After five years at an international fast-food chain, Sandro Darsavelidze had seen firsthand how cumbersome and costly it was for businesses in Georgia to establish an online presence. In 2016, he discovered that building a functional e-commerce website for a restaurant would cost around €21,641 and take months to develop and maintain.
"That's when we realised there was a real gap in the market," said co-founder Aleksandre Tsintsadze.
The two joined forces to build Kovzy — named after the Georgian word for "spoon" — a platform that gives restaurants a direct sales channel, enabling them to accept online payments and manage deliveries without the usual technical headaches.
One Solution
Kovzy takes the complexity out of e-commerce. Designed as a SaaS solution for small and medium-sized restaurants and hospitality businesses, it brings together everything operators need in one place: POS systems, QR menus, online ordering, loyalty tools, and delivery integrations. Payments, delivery, and social media channels connect seamlessly out of the box.
Onboarding is equally straightforward. The support team can have a website live within a day, and the interface is intuitive enough for anyone to manage independently. Getting the website going is free, with a flat monthly fee of 99 Georgian Lari (about €32) thereafter.
Kovzy enables restaurants to launch direct sales from their own websites in just three days. To streamline logistics, Kovzy connects food establishments with its network of partner delivery services, allowing both parties to negotiate terms directly and finalize the order fulfillment process.
Launching an innovative product is one thing, but changing how businesses think is another.
"We had to convince businesses of the value of direct sales, especially when it comes to loyal customers," says Tsintsadze. "When you sell through a third-party platform, you don't own that relationship — you don't know who your customers are, and you can't reach them directly."A direct channel gives operators far greater control over customer experience, feedback, and communication.
The message landed. Kovzy grew quickly, expanding into Armenia and now serving over 700 restaurants across both countries.
The Next Chapter
With a proven model and a growing client base, Kovzy set its sights on completing the platform — starting with an online reservation module — and on breaking into European markets. To do so, they sought external support.
That support came through the IA2M programme, "ICC Supporting Georgian Service Sector SMEs in Starting, Continuing, or Resuming Exports to EU and European Countries," which provided up to 50,000 Georgian Lari (€19,000) complemented by Kovzy's own contribution.
"The UNDP and EU4Business support will allow us to enter the European market," says Tsintsadze. The ambition is clear: to become the first true all-in-one hospitality platform in the Baltics, with expansion into Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia serving as a launchpad for broader EU growth.
Kovzy was one of 24 Georgian SMEs to receive backing from the IA2M project in 2025, which distributed a total of €296,600 in grants. The initiative itself is a €5.16 million project funded by the European Union, under the EU4Business initiative and delivered in partnership between UNDP and the Estonian International Development Centre (ESTDEV), with the aim of helping Georgian SMEs strengthen their offer and find their footing in the EU marketplace.
