BUSINESSNEXT secures $40 million funding to expand autonomous banking

The autonomous banking platform will use the funds for research and development and expansion into Australia and New Zealand, while strengthening its private AI capabilities

BUSINESSNEXT, an autonomous operating platform for banking and financial services, announced that it had raised $40 million in a Series C funding round from ServiceNow Ventures, valuing the company at $700 million.

 

The company plans to utilise the funds for research and development and expansion into new markets, starting with Australia and New Zealand.

 

The partnership with ServiceNow will help strengthen BUSINESSNEXT's autonomous banking capabilities and accelerate the adoption of private artificial intelligence (AI) across banking and financial services, the company said.

 

"Autonomous banking is not a vision we are chasing — it is a category we have been building for years. Today, as AI has matured, this investment will further accelerate our efforts to deliver private AI solutions, meeting the unique needs of banking and financial services, ensuring the highest level of security while meeting all regulatory governance frameworks and sovereignty aspects," said Nishant Singh, chief executive officer, BUSINESSNEXT.

 

BUSINESSNEXT and ServiceNow will together create a unified autonomous operating fabric for financial services enterprises, tapping into a market that is expected to grow to $3.59 billion by 2035 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.28 per cent, according to a Market Research Future report.

 

Kulmeet Bawa, group vice-president and managing director, India and SAARC, ServiceNow, said, "India's financial services sector is at an inflection point — institutions are moving from digital experimentation to full-scale AI-led operations. ServiceNow's investment in BUSINESSNEXT is a direct bet on that transformation, bringing together deep banking intelligence and enterprise-grade AI orchestration to help Indian banks and insurers move faster, serve customers better and operate with far greater efficiency."

 

BUSINESSNEXT has raised a total of $23 million so far.

 

When asked whether banks were looking to deploy autonomous banking, Singh said, "Banks are increasingly accepting the role of AI in their operations. When we speak with them, including HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Jana Small Finance Bank and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, over 70 per cent of banks are looking to increase their investment in autonomous banking, moving from smaller pilots and use-case-specific initiatives to bank-wide, outcome-based AI programmes focused on improving revenue per employee and per customer."