Contactless Technology Expansion in 2026

Contactless technology is entering a structural growth phase in 2026 as digital payments, biometric authentication, and proximity-based services become embedded in daily commerce and infrastructure.

The global contactless payments market is projected to grow at a 12.3% CAGR through 2034, with over 75% of Mastercard’s transactions in 2025 conducted contactlessly, reflecting mainstream consumer adoption.

At the same time, the contactless biometrics market is expected to reach USD 47.6 billion by 2033, expanding at a 17.7% CAGR, driven by demand for secure, touch-free identity verification.

The ecosystem now spans 91 900+ companies and 1650+ startups, employing 7.5 million people globally. Innovation remains active, with 740 200 patent filings from 224 900 applicants, led by China and the United States.

Investment momentum is equally strong: the market averages USD 38.2 million per funding round, tracks 32 400+ closed rounds, and has seen USD 20+ billion deployed by leading investors.

 

 

Contactless Technology Market: Payments Growing at 12% CAGR

The global contactless payment market is projected to register a CAGR of 12.3% between 2025 and 2034. Mastercard reported that contactless payments accounted for more than 75% of all transactions on its network in 2025.

Also, the global contactless biometrics technology market is expected to reach USD 47.6 billion by 2033, with a CAGR of 17.7% from 2024 to 2033.

According to our Discovery Platform, the contactless technology market includes more than 1650 startups within a broader ecosystem of 91 900+ companies. It reflects expansion across payments, access control, and digital identity use cases.

The yearly industry growth stands at 2.11%. This indicates gradual market maturation as enterprises integrate contactless solutions into retail, mobility, healthcare, and public infrastructure systems.

The market also employs about 7.5 million people worldwide. It added more than 2000 employees last year, showing stable workforce demand despite slower overall company growth.

Moreover, the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Germany, and Canada serve as leading country hubs.

 

 

The patent activity reached 740 200 filings from 224 900 applicants. Also, the yearly patent growth stood at 4.97%, which signals ongoing innovation despite moderate overall market growth. China led patent issuance with 267 800+ filings, followed by the United States with over 180 740.

In addition, the contactless payment patent ecosystem remains active worldwide. More than 70% of filings originated from three jurisdictions: the United States at 51%, South Korea at 24%, and China at 25%.

Spotlighting Top 5 Contactless Technology Startups

Media Contactless builds Contactless Management Platform

Swiss startup Media Contactless develops an IoT-enabled platform that integrates NFC technology into physical products to deliver digital content during consumer interaction.

It embeds NFC chips into products and connects them to a SaaS dashboard. Companies use this dashboard to match products with content, schedule campaigns, and manage when and where information appears.

Consumers tap a product with an NFC-enabled smartphone, and the system delivers marketing messages, e-commerce links, instructions, or other digital experiences without requiring extra applications.

The platform tracks product interactions in real time and supports coordination across supply chains. It also centralizes hardware selection, chip integration, and software management.

Adapt ID creates Contactless Identification Cards & Tags

UK-based startup Adapt ID connects physical products with digital services using integrated hardware and software. It produces NFC cards, tags, signs, and accessories that link directly to its cloud platform. The users activate products by tapping and manage digital profiles, content, and workflows from a central dashboard.

The platform synchronizes contact sharing, reviews, menus, bookings, ordering, inventory, and reporting. It also integrates with partner software systems to support data capture and operational coordination.

Also, the startup manufactures and prints products using sustainability-focused materials. It supports rapid deployment with in-stock hardware and unified platform management.

Invisible Sun Technology enables Contactless Facility Management

US-based startup Invisible Sun Technology creates a contactless facility management platform that provides real-time visibility into workforce activity, asset usage, and service delivery performance.

 

 

The startup deploys Bluetooth beacons across facilities, assigns smart tags to staff and equipment, and transmits movement and time data to a cloud dashboard for automated validation.

The platform verifies scheduled tasks, tracks assets, and records time and attendance without manual check-ins, QR codes, or user input. It compares actual performance against defined scopes to generate compliance scores.

In addition, it provides alerts, reports, and occupancy insights that support hygiene standards, maintenance planning, and operational accountability across healthcare, commercial buildings, transportation, and manufacturing.

BluSim Tech offers Continuous & Contactless Vitals Monitoring

Singaporean startup BluSim Tech develops contactless vital monitoring technology that enables real-time health observation in elderly care and nursing home settings.

It combines a non-contact sensing mat with connected devices and cloud software to capture micro-vibrations from heartbeats, respiration cycles, and body movements using ballistocardiography and edge computing.

The system processes multimodal data locally and transmits analyzed signals to secure web and mobile applications. AI models then detect anomalies, falls, presence, sleep patterns, posture changes, and early signs of patient deterioration.

Besides, the platform preserves privacy with camera-free data collection, encryption at the point of capture, and ISO-aligned data storage. It also supports private cloud deployments.

Oror provides Interactive Holographic Kiosks

French startup Oror builds interactive holographic kiosk technology that delivers digital experiences in physical spaces such as retail, events, and hospitality.

It manufactures custom kiosks that integrate holographic displays, interactive interfaces, and tailored digital content to present products and information with guided storytelling.

The solution combines hardware design, interface development, and content creation. This supports interactive product discovery, brand communication, and deployment across multiple use cases.

Oror offers both sales and rental models while maintaining full production control to ensure consistent quality and functional reliability.

Major Contactless Technologies to Keep an Eye on

Across the broader contactless technology ecosystem, three major trends stand out based on firmographic signals such as company volume, employment scale, and growth rates.

QR Code Analytics comprises 420 companies developing solutions that monitor scan frequency, user journeys, conversion rates, and transaction outcomes across retail, transportation, hospitality, and digital payments. Together, they employ 5300 professionals globally. With an annual growth rate of 21.89%, this trend reflects rising demand for measurable, data-driven engagement in contactless customer interactions.

 

 

Real-Time AI includes 3100 companies applying instant data processing and machine learning to enable fraud detection, biometric authentication, adaptive risk scoring, and dynamic transaction approvals in contactless ecosystems. The segment supports a workforce of 88 000 employees worldwide and records a strong 42.38% annual growth rate.

NFC Labels covers more than 110 companies. Employing 8100 people globally, the segment recorded modest annual growth of 0.59%. Despite slower expansion, NFC labels remain foundational infrastructure within contactless systems, particularly in supply chain traceability, anti-counterfeiting solutions, connected consumer products, and IoT-enabled asset tracking.

Funding in Contactless Technology: Top Investments & More

The contactless technology market records an average investment value of USD 38.2 million per funding round. More than 24 800 investors participate in the ecosystem. Our database tracks over 32 400 closed funding rounds. In total, more than 8600 companies have received funding.

Besides, the contactless payment solutions and digital wallets ecosystem includes 305 companies. Collectively, they raised USD 867.22 billion in public funding rounds as of October 2025.

The funding distribution shows specific geographic concentration. The United States accounts for USD 369.47 billion, Asia contributes USD 397.25 billion, and Europe represents USD 48.48 billion of total funding.

 

 

The combined value invested by top investors exceeds USD 20 billion, showing concentrated capital deployment across major contactless technology innovators.

In September 2025, Flipkart invested USD 30 million in Super.money, strengthening its push into UPI-based and mobile-first payment solutions that support frictionless, QR-driven transactions across e-commerce and offline retail.

Shortly after, General Atlantic completed a USD 600 million secondary investment in PhonePe in October 2025, reinforcing investor confidence in digital wallet infrastructure, NFC-enabled tap-to-pay systems, and large-scale real-time payment networks.

Where did The Data Come from?

This report leverages proprietary insights from the AI-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, which monitors 9 million global companies, 25K+ technologies and trends, and 150M patents, news publications, and market reports.

It evaluates the development of contactless technology over the past five years, analyzing company participation, growth momentum, patent activity, search interest, funding patterns, key geographies, and emerging subtrends.

These findings are further supported by credible external sources to provide broader market validation and forward-looking perspectives on the contactless technology sector.