Papaya Global Announces Group 11 As New Investor

Papaya Global, which works in global payroll and B2B payments, has a new investor in Group 11, a U.S. FinTech venture capital firm, according to a press release.

Dovi Frances, founding partner with Group 11, said Papaya Global’s model was successful at reimagining the stagnant models of yesteryear, which focused too often on paper-based payments that could be upgraded with digital means, the release states.

“The Papaya Global business model reflects Group 11’s philosophy of investing in FinTech companies that redefine their category by shattering and automating old work paradigms in multi-billion-dollar markets, such as the global payroll market,” Frances said, according to the release.

Frances will also join the company’s board of directors.

The investment was carried out via the purchase of secondary stock from existing shareholders, and the funding will go toward “scaling the company’s hypergrowth,” as well as new products to help international companies with things like salary and artificial intelligence (AI) integration, and also keeping track of global trends in the payments world, the release states.

Papaya Global’s services provide an end-to-end process including onboarding and managing cross-border payments. It works to gather user data and provide a transparent view into how the payments are unfolding.

The coronavirus pandemic has “exposed deep vulnerabilities” in the way payments are conducted, according to the release. The pandemic has shown that many firms rely on local suppliers and lack access to employee information.

Payments have been a subject of interest to businesses as they navigate the pandemic, with many feeling the growing pains as they suddenly lose the back-office stations they had long been used to for accounts payable (AP) services. And with more employees working remotely, companies may find more potential for hiring people across borders. Those that do will have to comply with tax and labor laws.