B2B Marketplace Startup Pneucons Bags Pre-Series Funding From Ather CEO and others

Pneucons, a B2B industrial marketplace firm located in Ahmedabad, has closed an undisclosed pre-series financing round, mostly because to participation on social media.

Notably, among other angel investors, Tarun Mehta, the CEO and co-founder of Ather Energy, took part in the round in his individual capacity.

The business plans to use the money it has raised to grow its workforce and improve its cross-border transactional capabilities.

Pritesh Lakhani, co-founder and CEO of Pneucons, stated, “With this funding and notable investors on our cap table, we are now equipped to embark on a journey of growth and expansion, driven by our belief in our mission and the trust of our stakeholders.”

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Pneucons was established in 2022 and focuses on important engineering categories such as power tools, plastic and packaging, industrial automation, pneumatics and hydraulics, fire safety, and electric cables and goods.

Pneucons says it has 7,000 buyers and 70 sellers, all of whom it says came by word of mouth, and it is a major player in over 42 countries.

The startup has worked with well-known businesses and governmental organizations such Indian Railways, Indian Oil, L&T Suffin, Telangana Power Plant, and ISRO to complete cross-border transactions in 12 countries as well as domestic transactions within India.

By facilitating direct export and import of industrial equipment, Pneucons’ platform helps merchants in tier II and III cities expand their market reach.

The startup wants to solve a number of important problems that MSMEs and SMEs in India’s industrial sector confront, including credit defaults (Udhaari), unclear pricing, and the scarcity of real, high-quality products.

“This funding round underscores the critical need for a transactional marketplace tailored for SMEs and MSMEs, particularly those struggling with Udhaari (credit terms) and opaque sourcing and pricing structures,” Lakhani stated.

Even though VCs and investors were first hesitant to support a cross-border, cash-based marketplace, Pneucons was able to validate its market presence and draw interest from investors by using Twitter.