Bharti Airtel struck a deal to acquire a 25 per cent stake in India-based start-up Lavelle Networks, boosting the operator’s offering to enterprise customers.

Airtel revealed the investment in a regulatory filing without disclosing the sum, explaining its collaboration with Lavelle Networks would benefit its Business division’s Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) digital platform, designed to address connectivity requirements for enterprises as they migrate to cloud.

Lavelle Networks offers software-defined wide area network products to customers across a variety of industries, including large financial institutions and e-commerce businesses.

Director and CEO of Airtel Business, Ajay Chitkara said it will collaborate with Lavelle Networks to help enterprise customers in India’s “fast growing 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,” he said.

The agreement with Lavelle Networks is subject to regulatory clearance.

News of the investment comes shortly after Airtel secured backing to the tune of US$1 billion from Google, which included a US$700 million equity investment and US$300 million committed to areas including access and digital inclusion.