Airtel buys 8.82% in software start-up Vahan

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel Ltd has acquired a minority stake of 8.82% in Bengaluru-based software development startup Vahan Inc. The company however did not disclose the cost of the acquisition. It said the indicative time period for completion of the stake acquisition is by October 31, 2019.

The acquisition of Vahan is a part of Airtel's Startup Accelerator Program to support the growth of early-stage Indian tech startups. Vahan, which specialises in providing jobs by using artificial intelligence driven bot (web robot) and a messaging platform, is the first company to join the program.

"Airtel announced the induction of Bengaluru-based tech startup Vahan into its Startup Accelerator Program. Airtel will acquire a stake in Vahan and partner with them in building significant scale to achieve their vision of enabling jobs for the next billion internet users" the company said.