In 2019, Ikechukwu Nweze was trying to solve a problem in Asaba, in southern Nigeria, where he was based: ordering food online was difficult.At the time, most venture-backed food delivery startups were focused on Lagos and Abuja, where higher population density and stronger consumer demand made logistics easier to scale. Mid-sized southern cities like Asaba and Warri were ignored.Nweze, a computer science graduate who had spent years building and discarding failed startup ideas—including a social platform meant to compete with online forum Nairaland and an indigenous email service he called Vmail—believed there was an opportunity to build a hyperlocal food delivery business in underserved cities where digital commerce infrastructure was thin.Together with co-founders Adinnu Benedict, Chiedu Victor, and Abanum Chukwuyenum—all software developers—he launched OliliFood in February 2020 with two restaurant vendors and two riders.Building through Nigeria’s lockdown economyThe timing was uncomfortable. A few weeks after launch, the world entered the COVID-19 lockdown that locked out most commercial activity. Yet, for OliliFood, classified as an essential service, the crisis unexpectedly accelerated early adoption.