ServiceNow Invests $40M in Indian Banking AI Firm BusinessNext at $700 Million Valuation

ServiceNow, the U.S. enterprise software company, has invested $40 million in BusinessNext, acquiring roughly a 5% stake in the Indian firm and valuing it at $700 million, the companies announced Wednesday.

The investment, made through ServiceNow Ventures, cements a strategic partnership that gives BusinessNext access to ServiceNow’s global sales network. The deal comes as banks increasingly adopt AI tools to customize services, automate operations and handle customer queries.

BusinessNext, founded in 2002 and known as CRMNext until 2022, provides an “autonomous banking” platform that uses AI agents to automate workflows while keeping sensitive data on private infrastructure for regulatory compliance. Chief Executive Nishant Singh told TechCrunch that AI was built into the company’s stack from the start: “We actually renamed our company and we kind of rewrote our stack to put that fundamentally at the core.”

The company, which employs nearly 1,300 people, serves more than 70 banks across India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the U.S., according to TechCrunch, and counts more than 120 customers including India’s largest lender State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and the Reserve Bank of India, per Reuters and TechCrunch reports. It competes with companies such as Freshworks.

**Revenue and Growth Ambitions**

The investment provides capital for international expansion. Singh told Reuters that the funding will primarily go toward strengthening sales efforts, initially focusing on expanding distribution in Southeast Asia and Australia. “Every company has to go to an IPO. Right now, we’re not looking at the IPO part,” he said, adding that BusinessNext’s ambition “right now is to run in every bank in the world.”

The company’s financial profile is at the center of two differing figures from the provided sources. TechCrunch reported that BusinessNext generated about $32 million in revenue in its latest financial year. However, Singh told Reuters that the company has been “above $50 million for a couple of years now” in annual revenue. About half of BusinessNext’s revenue comes from outside India, according to TechCrunch.

**The Partnership and AI Integration**

ServiceNow, which automates workflows such as IT service management and HR operations, and BusinessNext plan to combine their platforms for joint sale to financial institutions. Singh described the relationship to TechCrunch as “a strategic partnership, which is cemented with funding,” noting that BusinessNext’s software manages customer-facing banking workflows while ServiceNow excels in back-office automation.

As part of the tie-up, the companies said the partnership will allow for enhanced monitoring of BusinessNext’s AI agents through ServiceNow’s AI control tower — a centralized platform for managing and governing AI models and agents across an enterprise.

Kulmeet Bawa, ServiceNow’s group vice president and managing director for India and SAARC, said in a statement reported by TechCrunch: “India’s financial services sector is at an inflection point — institutions are moving from digital experimentation to full-scale AI-led operations.” He added that the partnership combines ServiceNow’s enterprise workflow platform with BusinessNext’s banking expertise.

**Industry Context and ServiceNow’s Outlook**

The deal arrives as established enterprise software vendors face pressure from customers questioning traditional SaaS pricing when AI-native alternatives emerge, TechCrunch reported. ServiceNow has been expanding its portfolio through acquisitions, investments and partnerships to strengthen its position in banking.

On the same day, ServiceNow raised its forecast for annual subscription revenue for the second time after beating second-quarter revenue and profit estimates, driven by growing demand for its AI-powered software, according to Reuters.

BusinessNext, which was last valued at $181 million in 2021 according to Tracxn data cited by TechCrunch, has raised more than $60 million in external funding. Existing investors include Avataar Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and Ascent Capital.