Airtel buys ~25% stake in SD-WAN startup Lavelle Networks

Bharti Airtel announced an agreement to acquire appx. 25 percent stake in Bengaluru based technology startup, Lavelle Networks.
Airtel Business CEO Ajay ChitkaraLavelle Networks specialises in Software-defined Wide Area Network solutions and it serves several industry segments. Its platform has connected thousands of Indian enterprises from the largest financial institutions to e-commerce networks.

SD-WAN market in India is expected to grow exponentially at a CAGR of 55 percent in 2022-2026. As per F&S End-User Survey 2021, about 62 percent of enterprises plan to deploy SD-WAN across their organization in the next 1-2 years, Apalak Ghosh, Associate Director and Head of ICT, Frost & Sullivan South Asia, said.

Airtel Business, as part of Network as a service (NaaS), will offer software defined connectivity solution  from Lavelle Networks and co-create a host of innovations, said Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO – Airtel Business.

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.