iLoka Food: a successful startup by a Gen Z team from Long Khanh

About four years ago, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, three young men born in 1997, Nguyen Thanh Hien, Nguyen Thanh Duy, and Nguyen Quoc Huy, all from Long Khanh city, Dong Nai province, were working in Ho Chi Minh City when they had to “leave the city” and return home to escape the outbreak.

Nguyen Thanh Hien (right) and Nguyen Thanh Duy, co-founders of iLoka Food, discuss ideas to improve their app. Photo: Ngoc Thanh

At that time, noticing that Long Khanh still lacked one of the essential services of the digital era, an online food ordering and delivery platform, the young men decided to start a business right in their hometown with the creation of the iLoka Food app.

“Localizing” technology to meet consumer needs

Nguyen Thanh Duy, co-founder of iLoka Food, shared that the idea came from his own daily experience and the local community’s growing demand for food delivery. At the time, Long Khanh had no established food delivery platform, and the existing ones had limited coverage and responsiveness.

“Our motivation wasn’t just about profit. It was about applying our technological mindset and IT expertise to create practical benefits for our community,” Thanh Duy explained. “During the Covid-19 pandemic, home delivery became more vital than ever. Long Khanh is a youthful and dynamic city with a lively food scene, yet it lacks a strong digital bridge to connect it all effectively.”

A delivery driver for the iLoka Food app picks up an order to deliver to a customer in Long Khanh ward, Dong Nai province. Photo: Ha Le

For three consecutive months, the young men developed ideas, analyzed consumer behavior, and designed the initial interface for the app they had been nurturing. They learned as they worked, drawing from a variety of sources, while carefully saving every bit of capital to bring their “brainchild”, iLoka Food,  to life.

iLoka, short for “I’m from Long Khanh”, was created as a strong statement of hometown pride and a commitment to serving local needs. The Gen Z founders, all born in 1997, poured their passion and technical know-how into developing a homegrown app deeply rooted in the local identity.

After persistent efforts, in December 2021, the founding team officially launched the iLoka Food app and established iLoka Technology Joint Stock Company. This occasion marked a meaningful milestone but also a significant challenge, as they had to compete with the public’s familiarity with big-name delivery apps, despite their limited funding and resources.

The startup journey of iLoka can be encapsulated in two words: dedication and perseverance. With limited capital, the founders had to take on nearly every task themselves, from programming and system administration to market development and manual data entry. 

The Gen Z team members behind iLoka Food handle every step of the process themselves, from programming and system management to market development. Photo: Ha Le

Nguyen Thanh Hien recalls: “The early days were truly a tough journey. We literally went door to door, store to store. I personally had to introduce and convince each shop owner to move away from traditional business habits and put their trust in new technology. It wasn’t easy at all, as many were still hesitant about the costs, operations, and effectiveness of a new app.”

“Starting modestly with just 70 partner stores, five delivery drivers, and around 20-50 orders per day, our iLoka team worked tirelessly to build trust through persistence and dedication. We even manually entered every store’s data into the system to ensure accuracy and fast rollout. That effort gradually paid off. Within just 1 month after launch, the number of partner stores exceeded 100, and daily orders reached over 100,” Hien shared.

After nearly 4 years of operation, iLoka has proven its place in the market with impressive figures, demonstrating that the team has successfully built a sustainable bridge connecting hundreds of local businesses with customers.

The app has reached nearly one million orders, maintaining a strong daily performance of 500-700 orders, and exceeding 1,000 orders on weekends and holidays. Currently, iLoka Food has partnerships with 500 active stores and a dedicated team of 40 full-time delivery drivers, forming a solid operational network.

Toward an iLoka multi-service ecosystem in Dong Nai

According to Thanh Hien, iLoka’s success comes from leveraging its two key advantages, local insight and community connection. These have been crucial in keeping both partners and customers loyal.

The young founders have a clear understanding of iLoka’s role as an intermediary working with all three parties: merchants, shippers, and customers. As a result, they consistently ensure fairness and transparency whenever issues arise, helping to balance the interests of all sides. At the same time, they continually upgrade the app to enhance user experience, with a particular focus on developing a professional and dedicated delivery team, the brand’s ambassadors who help build customer loyalty through attentive and reliable service.

One of iLoka Food’s most significant strengths lies in its local delivery team, all of whom are native drivers who know the streets of Long Khanh like the back of their hand, ensuring every meal arrives fresh and fast. Photo: Ha Le

A key advantage of iLoka’s delivery fleet is that all drivers are local shippers with an intimate knowledge of the area, enabling them to make lightning-fast deliveries, sometimes in just 15 to 20 minutes per order. This feature gives iLoka a strong competitive edge, ensuring that food reaches customers fresh and hot, something most national apps struggle to achieve in the Long Khanh market.

According to Nguyen Thanh Duy, co-founder of iLoka Food, the team’s next destination is to expand into two central wards of Dong Nai province – Tran Bien and Tam Hiep. These “super wards,” as he calls them, are dynamic urban areas with dense populations and excellent development potential.

Looking ahead, the Gen Z team from Long Khanh is also working toward building a multi-service local ecosystem. Thanh Duy has hinted at an ambitious plan that reflects an innovative integration of technology with the region’s agricultural strengths, serving as a strategy that not only expands business scale but also demonstrates a strong sense of social responsibility. This approach positions iLoka as an effective platform for driving and connecting the local economy in Dong Nai.

The Gen Z founding team of iLoka Food is working to build a comprehensive, local multi-service ecosystem that better serves the people of Dong Nai. Screenshot: H.L

“In November 2025, we plan to expand into Tran Bien and Tam Hiep wards, while developing a multi-service ecosystem that includes motorbike rides, taxi services, and especially a local agricultural produce marketplace. We want to leverage Long Khanh’s famous specialties, such as durian, rambutan, and avocado, to become a digital bridge that helps local farmers bring their products to a wider market,” shared Nguyen Thanh Duy.

In recent years, the iLoka Food founders have also actively participated in youth programs, fairs, and talk shows organized by the Dong Nai Provincial Youth Union, inspiring and motivating young people to be confident in pursuing their own paths, mastering technology, driving entrepreneurship, and contributing to economic growth in their hometown.

Moreover, iLoka Technology JSC has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the Provincial Youth Union and several organizations and localities, aiming to promote sustainable digital economic development in Dong Nai.

The signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement between the Dong Nai Provincial Youth Union and iLoka Technology JSC takes place within the framework of the Dong Nai Youth Innovation and Digital Transformation Festival 2025. Photo courtesy of the subject

The Gen Z founders and operators of iLoka Food share their entrepreneurial journey at the talk show “iLoka Food – Technology Breakthroughs by Young People,” organized by the Dong Nai Provincial Youth Union on October 8, 2025. Photo: Photo courtesy of the subject

Furthermore, to prepare for its upcoming technological and market expansion, iLoka has been actively collaborating with FPT Polytechnic College – Dong Nai Campus to recruit interns in Information Technology and E-commerce, thereby creating a hands-on training environment and fostering a local pool of tech talent.

The success of iLoka’s founding team, including Nguyen Thanh Hien, Nguyen Thanh Duy, and Nguyen Quoc Huy, stands as a vivid testament to the courage, creativity, and determination of Dong Nai’s young generation.

iLoka has proven that even when starting from a local market, with passion, perseverance, and a deep understanding of the community, young people can absolutely achieve success and bring pride to their hometown.

By Ha Le – Translated by Quynh Giao, Minho