Bharti Airtel has announced an agreement to acquire approximately 25 per cent equity stake in Bengaluru based technology startup, Lavelle Networks. The agreement is subject to applicable statutory approvals.
The home grown Lavelle Networks specialises in software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solutions and it 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.
As more enterprise move to cloud based applications to serve their customers in a digital-first eco system, they require on-demand and reliable network connectivity. As a result, there is a surge in demand for software defined solutions that have the agility to serve a cloud based hybrid IT environment.
Commenting on the development, Apalak Ghosh, associate director and head of ICT, Frost & Sullivan South Asia, said, “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 per cent in 2022-2026. As per Frost & Sullivan, end-user survey 2021, about 62 per cent 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.”
Airtel Business’ Network as a service (NaaS) is a digital platform, which is built to address the emerging connectivity requirements of enterprises as they go through the cloud and digital adoption and acceleration journey. As part of its NaaS portfolio, Airtel will offer software defined connectivity solution from Lavelle Networks and co-create a host of innovations as part of its NaaS platform. This also aims to bring “Made in India” products and solutions for enterprises by offering cutting edge technology and cost efficiencies.
Meanwhile, Ajay Chitkara, director and CEO, Airtel Business, said, “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.”
Also, Shyamal Kumar, co-founder and CEO, Lavelle Networks, said, “Digital India’s businesses are racing away to applications, cloud and software. Connecting all of this together are our enterprise data networks. We are extremely excited that our product and early market success will now be massively accelerated by this transformational partnership with Airtel.”
