Papa, a startup that hopes to avoid loneliness by pairing older people with peers, is now valued at $1.4 million.
The Miami-based startup employs “Dad Friends” who can help with non-medical tasks, such as preparing meals and transportation, or just checking family members. It recently completed a $150 million round of financing, led by SoftBank’s second Vision Fund.
“The loneliness of the elderly is one of the biggest public health challenges, and it causes huge human and economic costs,” said Lydia Jett, a partner at SoftBank Investment Consulting and a director of Papa, in a press release. “In the context of a shortage of health care providers and an increasing view of social needs as health needs, Dad is using technology to create a new nursing force to provide companionship and support to those who need it most. “
CEO Andrew Parker founded the company in 2017 while taking care of his grandfather. The idea is to provide additional support for families and caregivers, but it is different from the work provided by home care professionals.
Although the task of professional nursing staff may be to help people with a wide range of tasks, such as mobility, hygiene, and incontinence, dad’s “friends” are more focused on other aspects of daily life, such as technical assistance, meal preparation, housework, and transportation.
“This is another way to provide a care network in the form of companionship and ease the already strained system, while helping the elderly and families grow older,” Parker said.
The company provides its services through people’s employers or insurance as underwriting benefits, not as consumer-oriented services. To date, the company has established partnerships with more than 65 health plans, including Aetna, Humana, and Florida Blue. In the past seven months, it has added 25 health plans.
Papa is the most attractive for Medicare Advantage plans, but it also applies to employer-sponsored plans, where families may take care of children and elderly parents at the same time, as well as Medicaid plans.
Parker said he plans to use the funds to continue to develop Papa’s products, access to data, and expand to more health plans.
As the elderly face a shortage of caregivers, investors are also investing in companies that use software to make it easier for caregivers to find.For example, the online caregiver market CareLinx was acquired for $65 million earlier this yearAnd Honor, a company that makes software for home care organizations, Raised $370 million in equity and debt.
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