Papa Secures $18 Million in Series B Funding Led by Comcast Ventures to Combat the Loneliness Epidemic Intensified by COVID-19

MIAMI , September 22 /Businesswire/ - Papa, a nationwide provider that pairs older adults and families with Papa Pals for companionship and assistance with everyday tasks, today announced it has raised an additional $18 million for its Series B round led by Comcast Ventures. Additional investors in this round include Canaan, Initialized Capital, Sound Ventures, Pivotal Ventures with Magnify Ventures, Behance Founder, CPO of Adobe; Scott Belsky, the founders of Flatiron Health and their group Operator Partners, and other high-profile investors. This brings the company’s total funding raised to $31 million to date.

Since launching in Miami, FL in 2018, Papa has expanded to serve families in 17 states, with plans to be in all 50 states by January 2021. Papa is eligible to members through health plans and employers as a benefit. Papa has grown 20 percent month over month since inception and expects to increase 5x year over year in membership growth; which has accelerated due to COVID.

The funding will be used to continue to grow the company, including expanding the Papa team, launching services in new states across the country, expanding its platform, and growing its dedicated efforts to combat loneliness and social isolation in older adults and families. Papa’s mission stems from the startling statistics that 50 percent of adults consider themselves lonely¹ and social isolation increases the risk of death by 29 percent, with low income individuals being affected the most.²

“We created Papa with the singular goal of supporting older adults and their families throughout the aging journey,” said Papa Founder and CEO Andrew Parker. “The COVID-19 pandemic has unfortunately only intensified circumstances leading to loneliness and isolation, and we’re honored to be able to offer solutions to help families during this difficult time.”

Papa Pals provide companionship to older adults and can help with an array of everyday tasks including transportation, light household chores, navigating health benefits, doctors’ appointments, prescription refill and pick up, grocery delivery, and more. This brings value to the Papa Pals in significant ways as they are able to improve the lives of older adults while making a living and augmenting their financial wellbeing.

“Papa is enabling a growing number of older Americans to age at home, while reducing the cost of care for health plans and creating meaningful jobs for companion care professionals,” said Fatima Husain, Principal at Comcast Ventures. “We are excited to join the Papa team as they build upon the company’s innovative solution and accelerate on its path to grow nationally.”

Social isolation and loneliness as well as other SDOH (Social Determinants of Health) have negative impacts on one’s health. Researchers believe social determinants drive more than 80 percent of health outcomes³. In a joint effort to curb growing health care costs and focus on companion health, Papa has implemented programs with an array of providers including Aetna, AvMed, Florida Blue Medicare, Humana, Priority Health and RegenceHealth Plans among many others.

About Papa

Papa is a family on-demand service providing assistance and companionship to older adults and families in 17 states today, with plans to be in all 50 states by January 2021. Papa was founded in 2017 in Miami, FL. For more information, visit joinpapa.com.

About Comcast Ventures

Comcast Ventures (www.comcastventures.com) is the venture capital affiliate of Comcast Corporation. It is a returns-focused venture capital firm with a 20-year history investing in consumer, enterprise, and frontier technology companies. The portfolio has grown to more than 130 companies. Comcast Ventures is consistently ranked on the list of top 10 most active CVCs. The team includes experienced investors, entrepreneurs, and startup operators based in offices in San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

Sources

¹ Ali, Shainna (July 2018) What You Need to Know About the Loneliness Epidemic Retrieved from Psychology Today

² Holt-Lunstad, Julianne et al (2015) Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-analytic Review Retrieved from AARP

³ https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/addressing-the-real-implications-of-social-determinants-of-health

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