EXL to acquire AI data firm iMerit for $310 million

New Delhi: Public data and artificial intelligence company EXLService Holdings, Inc. is set to acquire California-based iMerit, an AI data company, for $310 million as the Nasdaq-listed firm bets on growing enterprise demand for AI delivery services.

The deal consists of an upfront payment of $170 million, with up to $140 million in earnings based on milestones over two years, the companies said. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026.

EXL plans to incorporate iMerit’s Ango data platform into its existing AI offerings, creating what the company calls an end-to-end system covering data preparation, model evaluation, and enterprise-scale deployment. Founded in 2012 by Radha Basu, iMerit specializes in training and evaluation of basic models and computer vision systems and counts Khosla Ventures and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation among its supporters.

“The acquisition of iMerit strengthens EXL’s AI strategy and its ability to help customers move from experimentation to production,” Rohit Kapoor, EXL’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. he said. The deal follows EXL’s acquisition of ITI Data in 2024 and comes as McKinsey The State of Artificial Intelligence: How Organizations Are Reengineering to Capture Value According to the report published in March 2025, 78% of organizations The proportion of AI in at least one job function increased to 72% in 2024 and 55% in 2023.

The acquisition comes as businesses increasingly move AI projects from the experimental phase to the large-scale deployment phase, and demand for high-quality data, model training and evaluation services increases, according to industry reports.

“Both companies share the belief that specialized, high-quality data is the foundation of AI success. We are excited to multiply our impact through EXL’s industry expertise, complementary technology and trusted corporate relationships,” Basu said in a statement.

Founded in 1999, Nasdaq-listed EXL is a global data and artificial intelligence company providing services and solutions to companies across a variety of industries, including insurance. healthcare, banking, retail, media and utilities. The company has also integrated NVIDIA’s Build Your Own Process Core Model developer sample into its AI and analytics offerings.