Sizl

Sizl is a cook-to-order food delivery service and ghost kitchen operator founded in 2022 by Alex Kolesnikov, Anastasia Kalinkina, and Kyrylo Kupin. Headquartered in Redwood City, CA, but operating primarily in Chicago, the company functions as a delivery-only restaurant with no physical storefront, utilizing its own kitchens, proprietary technology, and a dedicated courier team on electric bikes.

The concept originated from a pet project by Kolesnikov in 2017 to deliver food to employees at his former company, which evolved into a successful 55-outlet ghost kitchen business in Moscow called Local Kitchen. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kolesnikov and Kalinkina, who was the COO of Local Kitchen, moved to the U.S. and launched Sizl in Chicago, a market they viewed as a strong proving ground. The company secured $3.5 million in a seed funding round in April 2025.

Sizl's business model centers on controlling the entire process from cooking to delivery to enhance food quality and customer experience. It uses its own mobile app for over half of its orders, which improves margins compared to third-party aggregators like Uber Eats and DoorDash. The service aims to replace daily cooking for its customers by offering fresh meals, made with ingredients from local suppliers, delivered in about 30 minutes. To maintain customer engagement, the menu of about 60 items changes every two weeks and features a mix of Eastern European staples and American favorites. The company's proprietary Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system tracks detailed data to inform menu decisions and operational efficiency, while its app includes features like nutritional information, real-time order tracking, and gamification.

Keywords: ghost kitchen, food delivery, cook-to-order, dark kitchen, mobile ordering, food technology, on-demand food, local food suppliers, proprietary delivery, restaurant tech, Chicago food scene, direct-to-consumer food, cloud kitchen, everyday meals, fast delivery, venture capital, food-tech startup, subscription-free, ERP system, gamified loyalty