Indian multinational telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel Limited has announced an agreement to acquire an approximate 25% equity stake in Bengaluru (Bangalore) based technology start-up, Lavelle Networks.
Lavelle Networks, which was founded in 2015, specialises in Software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) solutions and serves a range of industry segments.
Its platform has connected several thousands of Indian enterprises from the nation's largest financial institutions to e-commerce networks, the Telecom major said in a press release.
Through this deal, Lavelle aims to utilise its enterprise data network as Digital India is racing away to applications, cloud, and software. The technology start-up also expects that its early market access will be accelerated due to its partnership with Bharti Airtel.
“We are pleased to support Lavelle’s growth journey and excited to collaborate with them to take their world-class solutions to enterprise customers in the fast-growing Indian NaaS market. With our end-to-end solutions play and brand trust, we are uniquely positioned to serve the needs of India’s fast-growing digital economy," said Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO of Airtel Business.
Airtel Business’ Network as a Service (NaaS) is a digital platform that focuses on emerging connectivity requirements of enterprises as they go through the cloud and digital adoption.
The acquisition will boost Airtel Business' Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) portfolio as enterprises look to deploy software-defined networks to support their digital transformation journeys.
Airtel Business serves over one million businesses through its integrated portfolio of – connectivity, conferencing, cloud & data centers, cyber security, IoT, Ad-tech, CPaaS (Airtel IQ), and more. It is the market leader in India’s enterprise connectivity segment.
"SD-WAN is the necessary arsenal for enterprises to transform and future-proof their network infrastructure in this digital age. Its market in India is expected to grow exponentially at a CAGR of 55% in 2022-2026. As per F&S End-User Survey 2021, about 62% of enterprises plan to deploy SD-WAN across their organization in the next 1-2 years. Some of the major drivers which would contribute to this phenomenal run include the need for seamless management of Hybrid Networks, faster deployment of new sites, and network cost-efficiency." Apalak Ghosh, Associate Director and Head of ICT, Frost & Sullivan South Asia.
