Uzbekistan's Mazza began as a Telegram bot to sell unsold cafe food

Mazza, an Uzbek startup that offers unsold food from cafes and restaurants to customers in special sets, began as a Telegram bot, according to a post published by StartupBase on 21 October 2026.

StartupBase said Mazza's founder, Shoakmal Shomansurov, started the project without a large investment, a full team or a ready mobile app. Rather than build a complex platform first, the project went live through a Telegram bot, the post said.

The stated goal is to reduce food waste: cafes and restaurants that have products left unsold offer them to customers as sets.

StartupBase cited Mazza as a local example in a post arguing that founders do not need to be programmers. The post said no-code and AI tools now allow founders to build a prototype, test an idea and work on an initial MVP without programming skills.

The same post named Airbnb as a global example. It said its founders, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, were designers rather than programmers, tested the idea by hosting guests in their own home, and later added a technical co-founder.

Source:StartupBase, 21.10.2026