Knewit raises pre-Series A to scale AI and BPO for trade operations
Key facts Knewit raised a pre-Series A round from existing investor KUSABI. Knewit’s total funding to date has reached ¥290 million ($2 million). Its AI agents read orders sent by email, fax and PDF. BPO/Ops staff handle exceptions the AI cannot process. Source: The Bridge TOKYO, JAPAN — Japanese startup knewit, which combines artificial intelligence (AI) agents with business process outsourcing (BPO) to run trade execution work from procurement to delivery, has raised a pre-Series A round from existing investor KUSABI. The amount was not disclosed, but knewit’s total funding to date has reached ¥290 million ($2 million). AI agents with human backup Knewit announced the funding on Sept. 29 through a third-party allotment of shares, The Bridge reported. The investment came through KUSABI No. 1 Investment Business Limited Partnership. The company targets trade execution operations, the practical tasks from procurement to delivery within logistics, where problems such as personalization and double entry remain. Its AI agent reads information received by email, fax and PDF, structures it into items, quantities and delivery dates, and executes tasks automatically. BPO/Ops staff handle the exceptions the AI cannot process, and the service connects to existing core systems through CSV files and APIs and is built into customer operations. Orders that arrive by fax, email or PDF are exactly the unstructured input knewit’s agents are designed to read. Built around existing systems Knewit offers its “Newit” series of delivery digital transformation (DX) solutions and AI products, providing consulting, products, AI agents and BPO/Ops as an integrated service. It does not require customers to replace their core systems, and instead turns trade execution work into an executable form that links to on-site operations. The company said it will use the funds to expand its execution system, strengthen product functions centered on AI agents, recruit and train implementation staff, and develop new markets. Knewit also announced a pre-Series A funding round in August 2024. The company aims to expand as the business responsible for trade execution from procurement to delivery for each customer. The model reflects a wider shift in which agentic AI handles routine document work and human teams take over the exceptions, blending software with logistics outsourcing. For manufacturers and trading firms, that hybrid can cut double entry without a full system replacement. It also lets buyers pay for an outcome, such as processed orders, rather than for software and staff separately. Buyers comparing AI-led and traditional providers can benchmark options on the top AI outsourcing companies list. FREE BPO MATCH Ready to scale with new investment? Growth-stage BPO providers matched free — no obligation 5,200+ matches made Get 3 free quotes → Related news Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication. Stay ahead of the outsourcing industry. Join thousands of business leaders who rely on Outsource Accelerator for the news, trends, and expert insights that matter. Subscribe to our free newsletter and never miss an update. Source link
Philippine BPO must adopt agentic AI by 2027, Mindsprint says
Key facts Mindsprint says Philippine BPO must adopt specialized agentic AI platforms by 2027. The Philippine IT-BPM industry is valued at $40 billion to $42 billion. Mindsprint says the industry association cut revenue targets by 15% to 27%. The CEO urges workers to deepen domain expertise to stay relevant. Source: BusinessWorld MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The chief executive of digital transformation company Mindsprint is urging the Philippine outsourcing industry to adopt specialized artificial intelligence (AI) agent platforms by 2027 to protect its position as a global information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) hub. Mindsprint said workers will need deep domain expertise, not routine execution, to stay relevant as AI changes how outsourced work is priced and delivered. From headcount to outcomes The IT-BPM industry, valued at $40 billion to $42 billion, is the second-largest business process outsourcing (BPO) hub after India, BusinessWorld reported. Mindsprint said the sector faces growing pressure, with the industry association revising revenue targets down by 15% to 27%. “The opportunity lies in building specialized platforms and solutions that fundamentally transform the BPO model, shifting … to an outcome-based one,” said Mindsprint CEO Suresh Sundararajan. He said success by 2027 would mean Philippine providers offering sector-specific services in areas such as banking, insurance, health sciences and telecom, delivered through AI agents and priced on outcomes or consumption rather than headcount. Scaling outsourced workflows has traditionally meant adding staff in line with volume, such as deploying 100 workers to process one million invoices. Sundararajan said customer talks now center on invoice volumes and cost per invoice rather than the number of people deployed. Workers urged to move up the value chain Sundararajan outlined four focus areas for Philippine talent: deepening domain expertise, moving from execution to strategic partnership, strengthening customer-facing engagement and broadening technical skills. He cited Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, which found 25% of Philippine workers qualify as “frontier professionals,” against a global average of 16%. The Oxford Government AI Readiness Index ranks the Philippines 56th out of 69 countries, which Sundararajan described as a “high-usage, low-readiness environment.” He said companies should tie AI deployment decisions to their existing cybersecurity frameworks and keep human oversight for mission-critical operations. “Assuring employees that this isn’t about eliminating jobs, but about enabling them to take on new roles with the company’s support, is a critical factor in overcoming resistance and building genuine trust in AI adoption,” he said. For buyers, a shift to agentic AI changes what to ask of a business process outsourcing (BPO) partner, from seat counts to output, accuracy and cost per transaction. Firms comparing providers on the top 40 BPO companies in the Philippines list can ask which services are already priced on outcomes and how staff are being retrained. FREE BPO MATCH Hiring BPO talent in the Philippines? Matched to your requirements — free, no obligation 5,200+ matches made Get 3 free quotes → Related news Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication. Stay ahead of the outsourcing industry. Join thousands of business leaders who rely on Outsource Accelerator for the news, trends, and expert insights that matter. Subscribe to our free newsletter and never miss an update. Source link
South Africa’s BPO sector to miss 500,000-job target: BPESA
Key facts BPESA says South Africa’s GBS sector will not reach 500,000 jobs by 2030. The industry body expects about 150,000 more jobs by 2030 instead. The sector has created about 200,000 cumulative jobs since 2006. About 60% of South Africa’s GBS workforce serves U.K. clients. Source: ITWeb JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — South Africa’s industry body for global business services (GBS) now expects the sector to add about 150,000 jobs by 2030, well short of the 500,000 cumulative jobs envisaged in the country’s 2021 master plan. The sector, historically known as business process outsourcing (BPO), has created about 200,000 cumulative jobs since 2006. A realistic target of 150,000 Reshni Singh, CEO of Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), gave the revised outlook at a media briefing hosted by BPESA and Nutun, ITWeb reported. “So, the highest growth scenario is what would have resulted in 500 000 jobs. Current performance sits between expanded and accelerated scenarios,” Singh said. The master plan’s scenarios ranged from 250,000 to 500,000 jobs, she said. “Realistically, we are saying we think there will be 150 000 more jobs between now (obviously taking this year into account) and 2030, as opposed to 500 000,” Singh said. Singh said the lower estimate reflects the association’s view of AI and the growing complexity of the roles clients now require. “We’ve seen post-COVID there’s a lot more interest for the more complex roles…those complex roles are not going to scale, which is another reason why the 500 000 is not going to be doable,” she said. Beyond voice work The government designated GBS during the COVID-19 pandemic as a sector to steer economic recovery, after it added jobs while others shed them. Singh said the industry has moved beyond voice BPO, and BPESA is refining a professional services offer covering finance and HR, alongside digital and information technology outsourcing (ITO) work. About 60% of the local workforce serves U.K. clients, with the U.S. the second-largest source market, followed by Australia and other parts of Europe. BPESA, accredited by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, is the national industry body for BPO and links the industry with government. The GBS master plan, signed in November 2021, aims to establish South Africa as a premier offshore customer experience and digital services destination. For buyers, the revised outlook points to a market growing through higher-skill global business services (GBS) roles rather than sheer volume, which can mean deeper expertise but slower scaling of large teams. Firms comparing offshore outsourcing options can review the top BPO companies in South Africa and ask how each is staffing complex finance, HR and digital work. FREE BPO MATCH Expanding globally? Pre-screened BPO providers across 10+ countries — free match? 5,200+ matches made Get 3 free quotes → Related news Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication. Stay ahead of the outsourcing industry. Join thousands of business leaders who rely on Outsource Accelerator for the news, trends, and expert insights that matter. Subscribe to our free newsletter and never miss an update. Source link
New index logs 1,182 verified social-impact projects across 191 BPO firms
Key facts Outsource Accelerator has launched the Outsourcing Impact Review The index logs 1,182 social-impact activities across 191 BPO firms in 48 countries 1,181 of the 1,182 activities are verified against a live primary source Firms are ranked on two leaderboards: total verified impact and impact intensity Source: Outsourcing Impact Review MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Outsource Accelerator has launched the Outsourcing Impact Review, the first independently verified, source-linked index of the community and sustainability work done by the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, logging 1,182 activities across 191 firms in 48 countries with all but one checked against a live primary source. What the Outsourcing Impact Review verifies Every activity in the index links to its primary source, such as a company report, regulatory filing, or news account, and 1,181 of the 1,182 carry a verified badge confirmed against that live source. The result is a record buyers and journalists can audit, rather than a scraped list of corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims. All but one of the 1,182 activities were checked against a live public source, not a company’s own marketing. “For years the outsourcing industry has done an enormous amount of good and gotten almost none of the credit,” said Derek Gallimore, founder and chief executive of Outsource Accelerator. “The Outsourcing Impact Review is the first time that work is collected, verified against its source, and put on a record anyone can check.” How the rankings stay independent The review ranks firms on two leaderboards, one for total verified impact and one for impact intensity, which weighs output against company size so a focused mid-market provider can rank beside a global giant. Scores, rankings, and verification status are set editorially from public evidence, and no firm can buy its way onto the board. Outsource Accelerator says the index will be published annually as an industry benchmark, with firms able to add or correct their own records at no charge. For BPO operators, the review turns scattered social-impact work into something buyers can compare and search engines can cite, with every entry mapped to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The full methodology is open for scrutiny, and firms can verify or correct their own records. The open question now is whether the sector keeps the record current, the one criterion where the data is still thin. FREE BPO MATCH Looking for the right outsourcing partner? Matched to your requirements — free, no obligation 5,200+ matches made Get 3 free quotes → Related news Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication. Stay ahead of the outsourcing industry. Join thousands of business leaders who rely on Outsource Accelerator for the news, trends, and expert insights that matter. Subscribe to our free newsletter and never miss an update. Source link
Bluepass Capital invests in Sapporo BPO firm Marugoto
Key facts A Bluepass Capital fund has invested in Sapporo-based BPO firm Marugoto. Bluepass made the investment through a special purpose company. Marugoto offers recruitment, accounting and labor administration outsourcing. Neither Bluepass nor Marugoto disclosed financial terms. Source: Bluepass Capital TOKYO, JAPAN — A fund served by Tokyo-based private equity firm Bluepass Capital has invested in Marugoto, a Sapporo-based business process outsourcing (BPO) company focused on recruitment and back-office services. The fund made the investment through a special purpose company it holds a stake in, and the firms did not disclose financial terms. Built on recruitment outsourcing Marugoto was founded in October 2015 and built its business around Marugoto Jinji, a recruitment outsourcing service, according to a Bluepass Capital announcement. It has since added Marugoto Kanribu, an accounting and labor administration outsourcing service, along with recruitment placement and marketing outsourcing. Bluepass said Marugoto has worked on recruitment outsourcing since the field’s early days in Japan. Bluepass said Marugoto has built systems to capture and share hiring know-how across clients in many industries and roles, giving it consistent service quality. Its staff work fully remotely from locations across Japan, a model Bluepass described as a strength that has helped Marugoto steadily grow its client base, mainly among growth companies. Hiring shortages drive the deal Bluepass said it invested because many companies face hiring difficulties and a shortage of staff for indirect, back-office work, which Marugoto’s services address. The firm said it will work with management to strengthen marketing and sales to reach more customers, apply digital transformation (DX) and AI to improve efficiency, and expand into adjacent business areas. Bluepass said the support aims to drive Marugoto’s medium- to long-term growth and raise its corporate value. Bluepass Capital was founded in November 2020 and runs and provides services to private equity funds. Marugoto is based in Sapporo’s Chuo Ward and lists its businesses as BPO, covering recruitment, labor and accounting outsourcing, and recruitment placement. Japan’s hiring squeeze is pushing more companies to hand off recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and back office work to specialists, and private equity backing gives smaller domestic providers capital to scale. For Japanese firms short on HR and accounting staff, handing off hiring and payroll administration can free internal teams for core work. For buyers, a fully remote model can widen access to staff outside Tokyo, though it puts more weight on process controls and data security. Firms comparing Japanese and offshore options can benchmark providers against the top BPO companies worldwide list. FREE BPO MATCH Ready to scale with new investment? Growth-stage BPO providers matched free — no obligation 5,200+ matches made Get 3 free quotes → Related news Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication. Stay ahead of the outsourcing industry. Join thousands of business leaders who rely on Outsource Accelerator for the news, trends, and expert insights that matter. Subscribe to our free newsletter and never miss an update. Source link