BENGALURU/MUMBAI: Indian payments market is set to become hotter as Paypal founder Peter Thiel looks to back the next big potential winner in the space — Citrus Pay Thiel, also known for early investment in Facebook , is close to investing in a $25 million round along with Sequoia Capital and other existing investors in mobile payment solutions startup Citrus Pay.Sources said that Thiel will invest around $3 million in his personal capacity, while the remaining amount is likely to come from existing investors, which include Econtext Asia and Japan 's Beenos.Citrus declined to comment on Thiel's investment, while emails sent to Thiel and Sequoia Capital did not immediately elicit a response. Citrus' other existing investors, Japanese online payments company eContext Asia and Beenos Asia , are also expected to participate in the round.Interest of Thiel, who has also co-founded data analytics major Palantir and venture capital firm Founders Fund, comes at time when online payment companies are attracting interest from big Chinese strategic investors like Alipay and Tencent.Citrus' previous round in December 2013 had valued the company at $30 million. The Mumbai-based startup earlier told ETit is looking to raise $70 million, and Thiel's investment could be part of the larger fundraising.Citrus operates on both consumer and business side in the payments space. Its payment gateway is used by companies like Indigo, Go Air and Amazon India where it processes transactions worth $1.5 billion on an annualised basis.On the consumer side, Citrus has launched mobile wallet and applications to manage your monthly bills, pay them and track your expenses. According to Citrus managing director Amrish Rau, “The entire idea is to become a leader in consumer payments. Unlike being only a player in wallets, we also need to have a strong merchant proposition. We want to expand our base to 70 million consumers and reach over 25,000 merchants from the current base of 3,500 merchants.”