One of the country's top-funded companies led by Hispanic founders is located right here in South Florida.
Miami-based Papa was among the 30 companies founded by diverse entrepreneurs that raised the most funding in 2021, with more than $210 million secured from investors, according to Crunchbase, a website that compiles data on tech startups.
The Crunchbase list is based on funding rounds announced by companies between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, and includes seed, venture, corporate venture and private equity investments. The data focuses on U.S.-based businesses founded by Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx entrepreneurs.
Papa is a "family-on-demand" platform that matches elder adults with young companions, called Papa Pals, who assist them with transportation, light house chores, technology lessons, grocery delivery and more. It became South Florida's latest "unicorn" venture this year after completing a $150 million series D financing round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund 2, boosting its valuation to $1.4 billion. The capital injection came just months after Papa completed a $60 million funding round spearheaded by Tiger Global Management.
Papa was launched in 2017 by Alfredo Vaamonde, Andrew Parker and Jake Rothstein. Crunchbase classifies it as a Hispanic- or Latinx-founded company.
Another company with a major South Florida presence on the list is Eight Sleep, a sleep tech company that produces smart mattresses capable of regulating temperature and analyzing sleep phases to improve a user's sleep. Eight Sleep – founded by Alexandra Zatarain, Andrea Ballarini, Massimo Andreasi Bassi and Matteo Franceschetti and classified as a Hispanic-led company – raised $86 million this year in a series C financing round led by Valor Equity Partners.
Although Crunchbase reports the company is headquartered in New York, its founders relocated to Miami during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Crunchbase reports it started its Diversity Spotlight Report in 2020 to "uncover just how wide the funding gap is for Black and Latinx founders and the opportunities that lie ahead to close it."
Nationwide, women- and minority-led tech startups still struggle to raise venture capital at the same pace as ventures led by white men. Case in point: Just 1.2% of the $147 billion invested in U.S. startups during the first half of 2021 went to Black entrepreneurs, even less than the 2% that went to women-led companies.
Proximity to traditional tech and investment hubs appears to be another major factor in who gets funded. For example, 10 of the 30 top-funded companies identified by Crunchbase are located in San Francisco, and nine are based in New York City.
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