If you could build a city from the ground up, what would you do differently? Well, Indonesia is answering that question with their newly minted capital: Nusantara. The vision is bold. A tech-first green city where the tap water is drinkable, 75% of its spaces are dedicated to nature and energy comes primarily from solar panels. On paper, Nusantara almost sounds too good to be true, like an idealistic utopian idea of a city pulled out of a TED talk or design magazine.
And yet, it has already begun unfolding before our very eyes. Over 21,000 solar panels have been installed to date, helping power government buildings with clean energy. Roads, bridges, and the city’s first major housing complexes for civil servants have been completed, and the new presidential palace is already under construction, designed in the shape of Indonesia’s national bird, the Garuda. More importantly, its smart city infrastructure is also in progress. The government has partnered with major local and international tech firms to build intelligent traffic systems, AI-powered surveillance for public safety, and a centralised digital identity platform for citizens.
We explore how startups are pushing for fintech accessibility in Indonesia
This transformation reflects something larger happening across Indonesia: the rise of homegrown innovation that matches the ambition of this new capital. Local AI startups are taking on everything from identity verification and natural language processing to enterprise automation and smart city infrastructure. These startups aren’t just chasing global trends, they’re solving Indonesian problems in Indonesian contexts.
That said, it becomes evident that the foundations of a smart nation aren’t just poured in concrete —they’re written in code. As Indonesia’s digital infrastructure expands, these five AI startups are helping turn bold visions into everyday reality.
Nodeflux
Founded in 2016, Nodeflux is one of Indonesia’s leading computer vision companies, specialising in AI-powered video analytics for public safety, smart cities, and traffic management. The company has worked closely with the Indonesian government on large-scale initiatives, including facial recognition for the 2018 Asian Games and traffic surveillance in major cities.
Its relevance becomes especially clear when considering the challenges that forced Indonesia to start building a new capital in the first place. Jakarta’s unchecked urban
sprawl, crumbling infrastructure, and worsening congestion aren’t just inconvenient—they’re a warning. If Nusantara is to succeed where Jakarta struggled, it needs intelligent systems from the ground up: traffic that regulates itself, surveillance that is preventative instead of reactive, and public infrastructure that learns and improves in real time.
That’s exactly where Nodeflux fits in. By embedding AI into city infrastructure, the company is helping Indonesia shift from reactive urban management to proactive, data-driven governance. In a future where millions will rely on tech to move, live, and stay safe, Nodeflux isn’t just building software—it’s helping build trust in the city of tomorrow.
Kata.ai
If smart cities are the future, then communication is their nervous system, and that means AI needs to speak the local language, both literally and culturally.
Kata.ai is doing just that. Specialising in Bahasa Indonesia-focused natural language processing (NLP), the company powers conversational AI tools like virtual assistants, chatbots, and enterprise automation systems that understand and respond to Indonesians naturally. With clients ranging from Telkomsel to Bank BRI, Kata.ai is already helping millions of users navigate customer service, e-commerce, and banking through AI.
Feedloop AI
Smart cities need smart businesses. But in a nation where over 60% of the economy is driven by SMEs, digital transformation has to be scalable, fast, and cost-efficient. That’s where Feedloop AI steps in.
The company provides an end-to-end platform that helps businesses build AI-powered applications without needing an army of developers. Whether it’s automating customer onboarding, enabling instant document verification, or building internal dashboards, Feedloop brings low-code tools to enterprises that want to digitise operations at scale.
Verihubs
As digital interactions multiply, so does the need for secure, seamless verification. From opening a bank account to logging into a ride-sharing app, identity has become the gateway to everything, and in Indonesia, that gateway is increasingly powered by Verihubs.
The startup uses AI for real-time identity verification, biometric recognition, and KYC (Know Your Customer) processes. Verihubs has already partnered with major banks and fintechs to streamline user authentication, using facial recognition and document scanning to cut down onboarding time from days to minutes.
This is more than just a convenience. While traditional infrastructure can’t always keep up with digital growth, Verihubs offers a way to bridge the gap, ensuring that millions of Indonesians can access financial services securely and instantly. In a smart city, your face, voice, or fingerprint might one day be your passport to healthcare, education, or public transportation, and with the rise of deepfakes complicating digital trust, Verihubs’ advanced biometric checks offer a crucial layer of protection in verifying what’s real.
Prosa.ai
AI often comes with a tradeoff: progress at the expense of cultural specificity. But Prosa.ai is proving that Indonesian heritage and high-tech innovation can go hand in hand. Focused on natural language processing (NLP) for Bahasa Indonesia and local dialects, Prosa develops voice-to-text systems, AI transcription tools, and sentiment analysis technologies for use in everything from public service chatbots to media monitoring.
Its work has powerful implications. In government, it allows civil servants to analyse public feedback in real time. In journalism, it helps transcribe and translate interviews. In education, it supports local-language learning tools for students in remote areas.
As Indonesia ramps up digital adoption, especially in underserved regions, Prosa’s tech ensures that AI speaks not just to Indonesians, but like them. The startup is also investing in AI safety and ethics frameworks, helping set national standards for how AI should be used responsibly.
Together, these startups show that the soul of a smart city isn’t just in its infrastructure —it’s in the intelligence and culture embedded within it. While much of the global AI spotlight tends to shine on big name players from abroad, Indonesia’s digital transformation is increasingly being driven from within. Local innovators are designing solutions for uniquely Indonesian challenges, from traffic congestion to language diversity, ensuring that the technology doesn’t just work, but resonates with the people who use it. The emergence of homegrown AI startups isn’t just a tech trend; it’s a sign that Indonesia’s future is being built by Indonesians, with tools and ideas born of their own environment.