Lightspeed Leads Rs 50 Crore Round in Itz Cash Card

 Lightspeed Venture Partners has led a Rs 50 crore second round of funding in Itz Cash Card Ltd, a multi- purpose pre-paid card company. Exisiting investors Matrix Partners India and Intel Capital also participated in the round. The funds will be used by Itz Cash Card to further expand into retail payment space, besides ramping up the product portfolio and diversifications. The firm, which is part of the Subhash Chandra promoted Essel Group, raised $10 million from Matrix Partners and Intel Capital in 2007. Itz Cash was established in 2004 and has managed to reach an annual gross turnover of Rs 1,700 crore. The company offers prepaid cards offer cashless payment solutions for individuals and businesses. The company has tied up with IRCTC for rail booking, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to facilitate online payment of property tax and water bills, among others. Itz Cash has a network of more than 5,000 merchants in 1800 Tier I & II towns. "We believe there is significant growth potential for this product given that cash accounts for approximately 97% of the country’s retail payments, which exceed $500 billion," said Bejul Somaia, Managing Director, Lightspeed Advisory Services India, who will also join the board of Itz Cash. Another funded player in the Prizm Payments, which has been backed by Sequoia Capital India.