In 2024, fintech dominated startup funding in Indonesia, securing 41.8% of total investments.

This highlights sustained investor confidence amid strong growth in fintech usage, according to a new report by Daily.Social.id, a startup media and research platform in Indonesia.

The fintech sector raised a total of US$459.5 million across 28 deals in 2024, making it the top-funded startup vertical in Indonesia. This far surpassed other industries, including logistics, which ranked second with US$101.09 million across four deals; e-commerce, which secured US$92.52 million across four deals; and sustainability, which attracted US$85.36 million across nine deals.

Fintech’s dominance in startup funding was driven by relatively large rounds being closed by the sector last year.

Qoala secured a US$47 million Series C. The startup provides personal insurance products covering a variety of risks, including accidents, phone screen damage, and ticket cancellations to over 5 million customers across Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

AdaKami, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, raised US$32 million. AdaKami offers collateral-free loans and has established partnerships with major lenders including Superbank, Seabank, Bank Jago, Bank Permata, and OCBC NISP

Finally, Yup, a credit-led neobank platform, closed a US$30 million Series B. Yup offers a range of financial services, including seamless payment options, e-money, and credit card services, claiming millions of customers.

Fintech’s strength is further reflected in the country’s most valuable startups. Among Indonesia’s nine unicorns, six are fintech companies.

Akulaku, which offers digital credit, buy now, pay later (BNPL), and e-commerce financing solutions, is valued at US$1.8 billion. Kredivo, a digital credit platform, is worth US$1.78 billion; Ajaib, an investment platform, is worth US$1 billion; and Ovo and Dana, two digital wallets and payment platforms, are valued at US$1.73 billion and US$1.04 billion, respectively.

Rising fintech adoption

The boom of fintech in Indonesia is driven by surging digital payment usage and digital lending activity. In 2024, digital payments totaled 34.5 billion transactions, growing by 36.1% year-over-year (YoY), according to Bank Indonesia (BI). In particular, digital transactions via QRIS, Indonesia’s QR code payment standard, surged by 175.1% during the same period, driven by soaring adoption among both users and merchants.

A survey by Jakpat further highlights that trend, revealing that digital payments are now widespread in Indonesia with over 90% of the 2,000+ respondents surveyed reporting using e-wallets and digital payments. Bill payment and savings products are other popular fintech services in Indonesia, recording 65% and 32% usage rates, respectively.

Digital lending is also accelerating. In the first nine months of 2024, the value of loans disbursed via digital platforms totaled IDR 218 trillion (US$13.5 billion), according to Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), up from IDR 72 trillion (US$4.5 billion) for the whole of 2020.

Trends to watch in 2025

The Daily.Social.id report also highlights key trends shaping the sector in 2025, including agentic artificial intelligence (AI), Web3 and blockchain, and cybersecurity as among the key themes to look watch this year.

Agentic AI refers to autonomous systems capable of making decisions and performing tasks without human intervention. This technology is poised to become a pivotal force across various sectors in 2025 by streamlining workflows and for improving decision-making.

Web3 and blockchain is another vertical expected to pick up steam this year, driven by favorable regulatory developments, including last year’s amendment of OJK’s sandbox and licensing rules to support and welcome digital assets and cryptocurrencies.

The sector also witnessed notable developments in 2024. In December, Goro, a platform for fractional property investment, became the first startup to be admitted into OJK’s regulatory sandbox. In September, PT Sejahtera Bersama Nano and PT Tumbuh Bersama Nano (Nanovest) introduced Indonesia’s first bond tokenization product innovation, the ID Digital Bonds (IDDB).

Cybersecurity is another key theme to watch this year, amid increasing cyber threats and data breaches. In June 2024, hackers encrypted systems at Indonesia’s national data center with ransomware, disrupting immigration checks at airports and a variety of other public services. In September, hackers leaked data from up to 6 million Indonesian taxpayer-identification numbers (NPWP), further highlighting the need for stronger security measures.

Featured image credit: edited from freepik