JAKARTA -- Indonesian startups targeting the country's smaller cities are, slowly but surely, beginning to attract investor interest -- even from a world-famous hip-hop artist.
New companies focused on so-called tier 2 and 3 cities and engaged in sectors ranging from fintech and social commerce to digitizing family-run shops have raised tens of millions of dollars in the past few years. Investors are attracted to such startups as they are essentially diving into a potential blue-ocean market -- smaller Indonesian cities that are digital laggards and far from the ultracompetitive tech scene in places like the capital, Jakarta.
