Sequoia Capital invests in Citrus Payment Solutions

Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India has invested an undisclosed amount into Mumbai-based Citrus Payment Solutions Pvt Ltd, an online payments solution provider. Digital media site Medianama has first reported the deal.

As part of the deal, Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director of Sequoia Capital, has joined the company's board. Bhatnagar joined Sequoia in 2006 and serves on the boards of Prizm Payments, Comviva, Ujjivan Microfinance, IMI Mobile, Ideacts and Micromax Mobile.

Set up in 2011, Citrus offers online payments and e-mail invoicing solutions. According to the company's website, it is in partnership with Riya.travel, Yebhi.com, SkoolShop, BeStylish.com, TicketNew.com, ManoramaOnline.com, HealthKart.com, HostIndia.net and Indiatimes Shopping.

Recently, Sequoia Capital India and Baring Private Equity Partners have invested $29 million in gold loan retailer Manappuram Finance Ltd for 4.3 per cent stake. In 2011, Sequoia had invested in sectors like healthcare, food & beverage, engineering and infrastructure in the country.

The VC firm has also invested around $1 million in online payments solutions provider Zaakpay. Zaakpay raised the money to scale up its operations.

Sequoia's investment portfolio also includes Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd, Accelyst Solutions Pvt Ltd, Edusys Services Pvt Ltd, Knowlarity Communications Pvt Ltd and Bright Lifecare Pvt Ltd, among others. It has invested in more than 50 companies during the past decade.

Another online payment gateway company Prizm Payments raised $8 million from Sequoia Capital and raised a total of $15 million till date. In another deal, mChek, a Bangalore-based mobile payment application provider, raised a second round of venture capital funding of around $5-8 million from Nexus India Capital.