Greater Noida, July 24: LOHUM, India’s largest diversified producer of sustainable critical minerals and advanced materials, along with Baring Private Equity Partners (India), today announced that Baring Private Equity Partners (India) realised approximately INR 370 crore, generating a return of over 20x on invested capital (MOIC) and an IRR in excess of 80%, through a part exit from a fund that has crossed the end of its term; Baring remains a significant shareholder in LOHUM through its other funds.
Baring first backed LOHUM in 2020, drawn to the company’s leadership team, its differentiated technology, and a shared conviction that India could emerge as a global hub for critical minerals and advanced materials supply chains. Five years on, that early bet has become one of the highest-multiple exits in the Baring portfolio to date.
Broad-Based Ownership, Broad-Based Gains
The transaction also reflects LOHUM’s long-standing commitment to shared ownership within the company. To date, LOHUM has enabled over INR 100 crore in cumulative ESOP liquidity for its employees, a milestone that remains rare among Indian startups and echoes the company’s philosophy of building wealth alongside its workforce, not just its shareholders.
Existing Investors Double Down
Notably, a significant share of the transaction was absorbed by LOHUM’s existing investors and their LPs, who chose to increase their exposure to the company. This development is a strong validation of LOHUM’s growth story, its leadership, its technology, and the scale of opportunity that remains ahead.
Building a Category-Defining, Homegrown Industry
Over the past five years, LOHUM has built world-class, homegrown capabilities across the refining and recycling of critical minerals: cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, platinum group metals, and advanced materials, such as precious metal catalysts, rare earth magnets, and cathode active materials (CAM). By recycling and refining critical materials from industrial & energy transition waste in addition to sustainably extracting minerals from primary sources, LOHUM is helping meet the world’s rising demand for critical minerals while cutting environmental impact and import dependence for India and for the industries being built on these minerals globally.
Commenting on the milestone, Rahul Bhasin, Founder & Managing Partner, Baring Private Equity Partners, said:
“We first invested in LOHUM in 2020 because we were deeply impressed by the vision, ambition, and execution capabilities of its leadership team, alongside its differentiated technology. Just as importantly, we shared the conviction that India has the opportunity to become a global leader in critical minerals and advanced materials supply chains. Building a category-defining company in an emerging industry is never easy. The LOHUM team has consistently demonstrated the foresight to anticipate where the market was headed and the discipline to execute that vision. Across cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, CAM, precious metal catalysts, and rare earth magnets, LOHUM has built a platform we believe will only grow more critical to India’s and the world’s supply chains. To the entire LOHUM leadership and team, thank you for your partnership and for setting such a high bar through your relentless focus, resilience, and execution. We remain proud long-term shareholders through our other funds and have never been more optimistic about LOHUM’s future.”
Speaking on the partnership, Rajat Verma, Founder & CEO, LOHUM, said:
“Baring believed in LOHUM back in 2020, when building a homegrown, world-class critical minerals and advanced materials ecosystem in India was still an unproven idea. Their conviction, patience, and support over the last five-plus years have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today. To have delivered a return of this scale for our first institutional investor, while also putting over INR 100 crore back into the hands of our own employees by facilitating ESOP liquidity, tells us we’re building the right way for our shareholders, for our people, and for the country’s ambitions in critical minerals and advanced materials.”
We’re proud that this milestone reflects the values we’ve built the company around: broad-based ownership, long-term thinking, and a genuine belief in India’s potential to lead in this industry globally through technological innovation. We’re just as encouraged that our existing investors chose to lean in further. That confidence, alongside Baring’s continued partnership through its multiple funds, gives us tremendous conviction as we scale our capabilities across sustainable critical minerals and advanced materials. This is a proud milestone, but we see it as one marker on a much longer journey,” added Mr. Verma.