Founded in 2020 by Nguyễn Tuấn Phú and Đỗ Đăng Khoa, CNV Loyalty began with the vision of creating a platform that helps businesses strengthen customer relationships through technology-driven solutions for loyalty points, rewards, and personalized experiences. The idea originated from the growing need of brands to retain loyal customers in an increasingly competitive market. Recognizing this opportunity, CNV Loyalty chose to focus on a specific but highly promising niche: developing mobile-based customer loyalty applications with seamless multi-channel integration.
The company’s first flagship product was the Loyalty App, a tailor-made customer engagement solution that allows businesses to implement point accumulation programs, issue exclusive promotions, and send personalized notifications. Building on this success, the team quickly leveraged the popularity of Zalo—a leading local social media platform—to launch a Mini App version. This innovation enabled businesses to connect with their customers directly within a familiar platform, eliminating the need for users to download a separate app. By 2023, this solution had processed over 96,000 orders and generated more than USD 30 million in revenue for its partner businesses, clearly demonstrating its impact in driving repeat purchases.
On the technology front, the CNV Loyalty ecosystem includes a real-time Customer Data Platform (CDP) that provides businesses with deep insights into customer behavior and preferences. This data is key to enabling personalized marketing campaigns and enhancing user experience. In addition, the startup’s solution supports automated marketing workflows and features flexible API integration with existing enterprise systems such as POS, CRM, and ERP. By choosing an integration-focused approach rather than building an entirely standalone platform, CNV Loyalty has made its solution accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited tech resources, while also lowering the barrier to digital transformation.
A noteworthy aspect of CNV Loyalty‘s R&D journey is its commitment to continuous improvement beyond the MVP stage. The startup actively adapts its product based on real-world customer feedback. For instance, its campaign management features have been customized for different industries such as F&B, retail, and cosmetics. This openness and cross-industry compatibility have made the solution attractive to over 500 brands, including notable names like Di Động Việt, Pierre Cardin, King Coffee, Duy Tân, and May10.
In addition to product development, the startup has also made strong efforts to connect with the broader startup ecosystem. In 2020, CNV Loyalty was named among the Top 10 startups at Vietnam’s national TECHFEST competition. That same year, the company secured an investment of VND 11 billion from NextPay to further develop its product and later received a funding commitment of USD 250,000 from Shark Tank Vietnam (Season 4). Most notably, a USD 1 million seed funding round led by Wavemaker Partners (Singapore) marked a major milestone in the startup’s journey, signifying its maturity and potential for international expansion.
A key takeaway from CNV Loyalty‘s journey is the importance of identifying the right problem and market niche, coupled with a commitment to refining the product based on real customer needs. Rather than spreading resources thin or developing overly complex technologies that are difficult for businesses to adopt, the company focuses on optimizing value for the end user. Its flexibility in integrating with existing enterprise systems has also proven to be a smart strategy, especially as many Vietnamese businesses are in the early stages of digital transformation and require plug-and-play solutions rather than complete overhauls.
Technology does not always need to be groundbreaking from the start. Sometimes, a practical and accessible optimization can be the very factor that enables a startup to capture the market.
