Miami startup providing visits to elderly gets major investment from Comcast
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, many older Americans struggled with loneliness.
Now, amid a global outbreak that has left many of these individuals largely confined to their homes, their need for basic human interaction has become even more acute.
An investment group led by Comcast Ventures, the venture capital funding wing of the national cable provider, saw an opportunity.
The group has announced it is leading an $18 million funding round in Papa, a Miami-based startup founded in January 2017 by Andrew Parker, a former executive at South Florida telehealth group MDLive. Papa now provides a host of services to older, isolated individuals in addition to its core “family on demand” business that pairs willing, pre-screened individuals with populations in need.
“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, in a statement. “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.”
In an interview, Parker said that about two-thirds of Papa’s 120 national workforce is now located in South Florida. As soon as it is safe to do so, workers will be moving to a new office space in Brickell. Papa is now on offer in 17 states, and hopes to be available nationwide next year.
Prior to the pandemic, Papa added a virtual interaction component alongside other services like grocery and prescription pickup to further meet the needs of its elderly customers. With the emergence of the coronavirus, virtual interactions now make up the fastest-growing part of its business.
Whatever the means of communication, Papa is now seeing explosive growth.
“Before, some [older Americans] may have been ashamed to admit it, but now they may be saying it’s OK to be lonely,” Parker said. He continued: “We’re finding individuals who maybe never used the iPhone their grandkid got them, or the iPad provided by their health plan, before now.”
Papa is free to users through their health plans; the majority of customers gain access through Medicare Advantage plans.
Parker said the company also is seeing tremendous interest in working as paid Papa helpers; as a result of the pandemic, many workers are in dire need of extra income.
“It gives me the chills,” Parker said, “because we get emails saying, ‘Thank god for Papa.’ ” He cited the example of a single mother of four who lost her job and has since turned to Papa to help pay household expenses.
Parker is hopeful the investment serves as another salvo in bolstering the case for Miami as a tech hub.
“What’s going to happen in Florida, and Miami, is droves of people who maybe worked at Uber, who were part of their IPO and made some good money, are going to start coming here,” he said. “I’m starting to talk to people and finding out about that — people moving from San Francisco, New York and Chicago. The reason is obvious: There’s no income tax, and we have great weather.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 3:16 PM.
