ServiceNow invests $40M in Indian fintech to boost financial services

ServiceNow, the U.S.-based enterprise software giant renowned for automating IT service management and HR workflows, is making a strategic bet on an Indian banking technology specialist to strengthen its foothold in global financial services.

The company has poured $40 million into BusinessNext, securing a roughly 5% stake and valuing the 24-year-old Indian firm at $700 million. This deal grants BusinessNext access to ServiceNow’s worldwide sales network as the two companies deepen their collaboration on AI for financial services.

This investment highlights BusinessNext’s rising prominence beyond India. The profitable, Noida-headquartered firm generated about $32 million in revenue in its latest fiscal year and serves over 70 banks across India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. Its client roster includes the Reserve Bank of India, as well as State Bank of India and HDFC Bank, the country’s largest public- and private-sector lenders, respectively.

Founder and CEO Nishant Singh noted in an interview that roughly half of BusinessNext’s revenue now originates outside India, and overseas markets are expected to fuel much of its future growth.

Rather than pursuing purely financial investors, BusinessNext chose ServiceNow to accelerate its expansion by leveraging the U. S. software leader’s global infrastructure. Singh explained to TechCrunch that the partnership allows BusinessNext to “borrow” ServiceNow’s go-to-market “machinery” , its sales infrastructure , in regions where BusinessNext has a limited footprint.

“Think of it as a strategic partnership, which is cemented with funding,” Singh said.

He described BusinessNext’s software as managing customer-facing banking workflows, while ServiceNow excels at workflow automation and back-office systems. Together, the companies plan to market these combined capabilities 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’s group vice president and managing director for India and SAARC. He added that the partnership merges ServiceNow’s enterprise workflow platform with BusinessNext’s deep banking expertise.

Founded in 2002 and known as CRMNext until 2022, BusinessNext has spent years developing what Singh calls an “autonomous banking” platform. It uses AI agents to automate banking workflows while keeping sensitive customer data on private AI infrastructure to meet regulatory and privacy standards.

Singh told TechCrunch that AI was embedded into the platform from the start, not added later. “We actually renamed our company and we kind of rewrote our stack to put that fundamentally at the core,” he said.

BusinessNext now employs more than 1,300 people across its operations. According to private market intelligence platform Tracxn, the company was last valued at $181 million in 2021. It has raised over $60 million in external funding and counts Avataar Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and Ascent Capital among its existing investors.

This deal unfolds as established enterprise software vendors face growing pressure from customers questioning whether traditional SaaS tools remain worth the cost when AI-native alternatives are emerging. For ServiceNow, the investment strengthens its position in banking by partnering with a company focused on AI-driven financial software, as it continues expanding its enterprise portfolio through acquisitions, investments, and partnerships.