ServiceNow, the US business software company known for automating workflows such as IT service management and HR functions, is banking on an Indian banking software specialist to deepen its push into global financial services.
The company has invested $40 million in BusinessNextvaluing the 24-year-old Indian company at $700 million and taking about a 5% stake. The deal gives BusinessNext access to ServiceNow’s global sales network as the companies expand their collaboration on artificial intelligence for financial services.
ServiceNow’s investment reflects BusinessNext’s growing profile beyond India. The profitable Noida-based company, which generated revenues of about $32 million in its last financial year, serves more than 70 banks across India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the US.
About half of BusinessNext’s revenue comes from outside India, with overseas markets expected to largely drive its future growth, founder and CEO Nishant Singh said in an interview.
The company chose ServiceNow over potential financial investors to accelerate its expansion by leveraging the US software group’s global reach. Singh told TechCrunch that the partnership would help BusinessNext “lend” its “engines” — referring to ServiceNow’s sales infrastructure — to markets where it has a limited presence.
“Think of it as a strategic partnership, anchored by funding,” he said.
BusinessNext’s software, Singh said, manages customer-facing banking workflows, while ServiceNow is stronger in workflow and back-office automation systems, a combination the two companies plan to jointly sell to financial institutions.
“India’s financial services sector is at an inflection point – institutions are moving from digital experimentation to full-scale AI-led operations,” said Kulmeet Bawa, ServiceNow group vice president and managing director for India and SAARC. He added that the partnership combines ServiceNow’s business workflow platform with BusinessNext’s banking expertise.
Founded in 2002, BusinessNext – known as CRMNext until 2022 – has spent many years building what Singh calls an “autonomous banking” platform, using AI agents to automate banking workflows while keeping sensitive customer data on private AI infrastructure to meet regulatory and privacy requirements.
Singh told TechCrunch that AI was built into the company’s platform from the start rather than added later. “We actually rebranded our company and kind of rewrote our stack to essentially put it at the core,” he said.
BusinessNext employs more than 1,300 people across its operations and has been last valued at $181 million in 2021, per private market intelligence platform Tracxn. It has raised more than $60 million in outside funding and includes Avataar Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Ascent Capital among its existing investors.
The deal comes as established enterprise software vendors face pressure from customers who question whether it’s worth paying for traditional SaaS tools when native AI alternatives emerge. For ServiceNow, the deal builds its position in banking, partnering with a company focused on artificial intelligence-based banking software as it expands its enterprise software portfolio through acquisitions, investments and partnerships.
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