Vincent Iswara spent about a year and a half in talks with Ant Financial about his own earlier wallet business. Ant concluded it was not the right vehicle, but it still saw potential in him. DANA was established in 2017 after he returned to Indonesia.
DANA launched on 11 November 2018 and was licensed to operate on 5 December. By the end of June 2019 it had 20 million users and 1.5 million daily transactions. Ant Group and Emtek invested that year.
The next five to seven years were a cashback war, with rivals offering incentives of 50% to 100%. Regulation of e-money kept shifting. Of the original 81 employees, 65 were still at DANA after eight years.
In 2022 DANA raised a $250 million round with Sinar Mas units and Lazada Group, at a valuation above $1 billion. 01Fintech invested later, and DANA passed 200 million registered users.