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Battery tech startup Lohum raises $7 million, looks to raise $21 million more

Battery tech startup Lohum raises $7 million, looks to raise $21 million more

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Baring Private Equity Partners led the first institutional round of investment that fetched $7 million (Rs 51 crore) for Lohum. The company will be raising Rs 150 crore more over the next one year, chief executive Rajat Verma said

MUMBAI : New Delhi-based battery pack manufacturing and recycling startup Lohum is looking to raise Rs 200 crore to invest in capacity expansion across manufacturing and recycling, as well as to increase its geographical reach, including expansion into the US.

Baring Private Equity Partners led the first institutional round of investment that fetched $7 million (Rs 51 crore) for Lohum. The company will be raising Rs 150 crore more over the next one year, chief executive Rajat Verma said.

The company is looking to increase its revenue ten-fold over the next three years to more than Rs 500 crore, with a bulk of it coming from electric vehicle (EV) battery sales as the industry picks up pace in the country, Verma said.

The funds raised will be used to achieve 700 MWh domestic capacity including both manufacturing and recycling, as well as to set up a recycling plant in the US. Lohum currently has a capacity of 300 MWh — 150 MWh for manufacturing and 150 MWh for recycling — at its plant in Greater Noida.

“Just to give you some perspective, 150 MWh means the ability to produce battery packs for 75,000 two-wheelers in the country,” Verma told ET.

The battery pack manufacturer assembles lithium-ion batteries from cells imported from countries like China and Taiwan. The batteries are used for applications such as EVs as well as for stationary energy storage solutions (ESS), like in telecommunication towers.

It also recycles end-of-life batteries to separate materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel. The company has developed proprietary technology to test whether an end-of-life battery could be repurposed for other applications or needs to be recycled.

About 80% of the company’s revenue is generated from sales of EV batteries, while 10% comes from ESS and 10% from the recycling business.

“We are the only integrated battery pack manufacturing and recycling facility, arguably anywhere in the world,” Verma said.

“We’ve got contracts across mobility, telecom and ESS. And that’s partly the reason why we are enhancing the production capacity, both on the recycling side and on the battery pack (manufacturing) side, to ensure that we are able to meet our customers’ requirements going forward,” he said.

The company is currently testing its batteries with several automakers for electric three-wheelers and other larger vehicles, he said.

As EV sales in the country take off, battery recycling will become a lucrative opportunity, especially given the fact that India does not have reserves of rare metals like lithium, cobalt and nickel, he added.

Source : economictimes
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Anand Gupta Editor - EQ Int'l Media Network