Papaya announced Wednesday that it raised $50 million for its app that allows users to pay bills from their smartphone.
The Series B round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Acrew Capital, 01 Advisors, Mucker Capital, F-Prime, Fika Ventures and Sound Ventures.
Papaya users can pay any bill — whether it’s for utilities, smartphones or hospital visits — by taking a picture of the bill on their phone, choosing their payment amount and payment method and clicking “pay.”
Papaya said its artificial intelligence-powered “bill understanding technology” allows the app to identify and reach every business in the U.S. that issues bills.
The company said it facilitates payments for hundreds of thousands of businesses and organizations in the U.S.
Papaya was co-founded by Patrick Kann, who previously worked with the World Bank and IdeaLab, and CTO Jason Meltzer, a computer vision scientist who worked at iRobot and led the development of the computer vision technology behind the Roomba.
Papaya has 80 employees, roughly half of which are based in LA. With the new funding, the company said it will “substantially” grow its team, with a focus on product and engineering roles.
Kann said in a statement that he and his team are driven by the desire to grow a product that can scale and have a positive impact on the greatest number of people.
“American families’ greatest source of stress and anxiety is finances,” he said. “With a user-friendly app and single photo of a bill, Papaya’s technology eases that pain point, which motivates us all.”
