ServiceNow, the American enterprise software firm famous for streamlining processes such as IT service management and HR operations, is investing in an Indian specialist in banking software to strengthen its efforts in worldwide financial services.

The firm has put $40 million into BusinessNext, valuing the 24-year-old Indian company at $700 million and securing roughly a 5 percent stake. The transaction gives BusinessNext entry to ServiceNow's worldwide sales channels as the pair grow their collaboration around AI for financial services.

ServiceNow's investment highlights BusinessNext's rising standing outside India. The profitable Noida-based firm, which posted about $32 million in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, works with more than 70 banks across India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the U.S. Its clients include the Reserve Bank of India, the nation's central bank, along with State Bank of India and HDFC Bank, India's biggest public-sector and private-sector lenders.

Roughly half of BusinessNext's revenue originates outside India, and overseas markets are set to fuel most of its coming growth, founder and CEO Nishant Singh said in an interview.

The company selected ServiceNow over possible financial backers to speed its growth by using the U.S. software group's global footprint. Singh told TechCrunch that the alliance would let BusinessNext tap ServiceNow's go-to-market systems in regions where it has little presence.

"Think of it as a strategic partnership, which is cemented with funding," he said.

BusinessNext's software, Singh said, handles customer-facing banking processes, while ServiceNow excels in workflow automation and back-office systems, a mix the two firms intend to offer jointly 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," Kulmeet Bawa, ServiceNow's group vice president and managing director for India and SAARC, said. He noted that the partnership merges ServiceNow's enterprise workflow platform with BusinessNext's banking know-how.

Founded in 2002, BusinessNext - formerly known as CRMNext until 2022 - has spent years developing what Singh calls an "autonomous banking" platform that uses AI agents to automate banking workflows while keeping sensitive customer data on private AI infrastructure to satisfy regulatory and privacy rules.

Singh told TechCrunch that AI was built into the company's platform from the start rather than added afterward. "We actually renamed our company and we kind of rewrote our stack to put that fundamentally at the core," he said.

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

The deal arrives as established enterprise software vendors face pressure from customers questioning whether traditional SaaS tools justify their cost when AI-native options are appearing. For ServiceNow, the transaction extends its banking presence by teaming with a firm focused on AI-driven banking software as it grows its enterprise software portfolio through acquisitions, investments, and partnerships.