Senior Citizens Tech Startup Papa Raises $60 Million to Scale the Business

By McKenzie Carpenter | Tuesday, 13 April 2021 | Startup, Tech, Family

Today, Papa, a senior citizens tech startup that features two apps, announced the business raised $60 million to accelerate the growth of the business.

About Papa

Founded in 2017, Papa is a Miami-based startup app company that offers care and companionship to senior citizens. The elder tech business was built on the idea of supporting “families throughout the aging journey” by attempting to combat the loneliness and isolation that is oftentimes associated with aging.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reported in 2020 that nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated due to various factors like living alone, loss of family and friends, chronic illnesses, hearing loss, and more.

Available across the entire United States (US), the startup app company provides a family-on-demand service for senior citizens by connecting them with younger individuals, called Papa Pals. A Papa Pal provides companionship, helps seniors around their house, assists with grocery shopping, drives them to appointments, and more.

The seniors tech company has partnered with Medicare Advantage, Managed Medicaid, and other large healthcare plans across the US. Additionally, the startup app company is available through various employers as an added benefit to their senior members.

Recently, the senior citizens tech business launched Papa Health. This new feature offers additional benefits like care navigation, virtual primary care, chronic care management, and urgent care from Papa Docs — a team of board-certified physicians, nurse practitioners, and behavioral health specialists. Furthermore, Papa Pals can have access to Papa Health information for their senior companion.

$60 Million for Papa

In a press release, Papa revealed the tech startup company raised $60 million in a Series C funding round led by Tiger Global Management. The seniors tech business has now raised $91 million in its lifetime. According to the release, the tech business had 600% year-over-year (YOY) growth as of the beginning of 2021.

In an interview, Andrew Parker, founder and CEO of the senior citizens tech startup, said that Papa has about 1 million eligible members on the platform and about 15% of those members use the platform every month. He added the platform hopes to reach between 5 million and 6 million members by January 2022. Additionally, the platform receives more than 20,000 Papa Pal applications per month with a less than 10% acceptance rate.

Parker said in a statement, “We have proven that pairing those in need with energetic, caring and geographically-local Papa Pals while leveraging data and technology to ensure an amazing experience improves the lives and health of our members.”

He added the new capital will assist in quickly growing the startup company and its app by scaling the platform to enhance its suite of services for social and clinical needs.

Scott Shleifer, partner at Tiger Global added in a statement, “...Papa has developed a highly personal companionship model to solve this unmet need, delivering exceptional satisfaction ratings and healthcare outcomes. We are excited to back the clear category leader and believe they’re just scratching the surface of the opportunity that lies ahead.”

About the Author

McKenzie Carpenter

McKenzie Carpenter is a graduate of Central Michigan University with a B.A.A. in Integrative Public Relations and French. McKenzie has previously worked for small businesses and nonprofit organizations.