Pneucons, a B2B industrial marketplace startup, closed its pre-series investment round with participation from Ather Energy’s Tarun Mehta. The funds will expand the team and boost cross-border transactions in engineering sectors. Founded in 2022, Pneucons has a presence in 42 countries and serves major clients like Indian Railways and ISRO.

B2B food and agritech platform Waycool targets operational break-even in FY24, with claimed revenues of Rs 1,600 crore. The company’s FY23 revenue grew by 62% to Rs 1,251 crore from Rs 772 crore in FY22, driven primarily by sales of goods, with additional income from commissions and interest.

Early-stage venture capital fund FAAD Capital invested $121,000 in four agritech startups—Godaam Innovations, VedaFit Foods, Aqin Biotech, and Mkelly Biotech—as part of their AgriManch accelerator program. FAAD will also provide post-funding support to enhance revenue generation and networking within the agriculture sector.

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a key backer of Byju’s, has approached the Karnataka High Court to prevent founder Byju Raveendran from selling, pledging, or transferring assets. QIA seeks to claim Raveendran’s personal assets up to $235.19 million and demands disclosure of his personal assets. This move coincides with Byju’s ongoing insolvency issues and legal battles over a $1.2 billion loan.

Education-focused NBFC Auxilo has raised Rs 100 crore ($12 million) through non-convertible debentures. Dezerv Securities contributed Rs 26.39 crore, while MAS Financial Services and CredAvenue Securities each invested Rs 25 crore. This funding follows Auxilo’s recent $33.6 million round led by LeapFrog Investments.

Nykaa plans to raise Rs 125 crore ($15 million) by issuing 12,500 non-convertible debentures at Rs 1,00,000 each. The funds, raised from an undisclosed foreign investor, will support its UAE subsidiary Nysaa Beauty. Nykaa’s FY24 revenue grew by 24.1%, with a 90.5% profit increase.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the abolition of the angel tax in the Union Budget 2024-25, addressing a major concern of Indian startups. This tax, imposing around 30% on external investments, was seen as a barrier to growth. The startup community has widely welcomed this move.

Digital payments platforms PhonePe and Google Pay saw a slight decline in UPI transaction volume and value in June, while Paytm’s growth remained flat. UPI overall experienced a 1% drop in total transaction volume to 13.9 billion and a minor decrease in transaction value to Rs 20.07 lakh crore.