Bharti Airtel acquires 25% stake in SD-WAN startup Lavelle Networks

31 Jan 2022 , 12:51 PM

In its press release on Monday, Bharti Airtel Ltd. announced that the company has entered into an Investment Agreement with Lavelle Networks Private Limited (Lavelle Networks) for the acquisition of a 25% stake in Lavelle.

The home-grown Lavelle Networks provides Software-defined Wide Area Network solutions and, caters to a range of industry segments. Its platform has linked several thousands of Indian enterprises from the nation’s largest financial institutions to e-commerce networks.

As more enterprises shift to cloud-based applications to provide their customers with a digital-first ecosystem, they will need on-demand and reliable network connectivity. As a result, there is an increase in demand for software-defined solutions that can serve a cloud-based hybrid IT environment.

“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. There is a need for seamless management of Hybrid Networks, faster deployment of new sites, and network cost-efficiency to contribute to this phenomenal run,” commented Apalak Ghosh, Associate Director and Head of ICT, Frost & Sullivan South Asia.

“Digital India’s businesses are shifting swiftly to applications, cloud, and software. Our enterprise data networks are connecting all of this. The company is excited that its product and early market success will now be massively accelerated by this transformational partnership with Airtel,” commented Shyamal Kumar, co-founder & CEO, Lavelle Networks, on the acquisition.

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.

Bharti Airtel was last trading at Rs729.70 up by Rs13.8 or 1.93% from its previous closing of Rs715.90 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs730.25 and has touched an intraday high and low of Rs731.70 and Rs719.40 respectively.