Former AmEx CEO Invests In Israeli AI Fintech Startup Pagaya

The American-Israeli financial technology company Papaya announced on Thursday that it raised $14 million in a Series B funding round co-led by venture capital fund Oak HC/FT, and Harvey Golub, former chairman and CEO of American Express. New York-based family office GF Investments, Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank, Israel’s Clal Insurance Ltd., and Pagaya’s seed investor, Viola Ventures also participated in the round.

Golub is set to join Pagaya’s’s board, according to a company statement.

Pagaya was founded in 2016 by Gal Krubiner (CEO), Avital Pardo (CTO) and Yahav Yulzari (VP Sales), and has offices in New York and Tel Aviv. The company uses using machine learning and big data analytics for asset management.

The company’s clients include banks, insurance companies, pension funds, asset managers and high net worth investors.

“This funding fuels Pagaya’s scalable, tech-driven approach to asset management and will help further the development of its proprietary algorithm to enter new data-rich asset classes,” the company said, adding that it will use the funding to grow its team of data scientists and AI specialists, build a global sales force and launch new investment strategies.

Krubiner said in a statement that “the investment validates the strength of Pagaya’s technology and that the company welcomes the opportunity to “put this funding to work and continue to reshape how technology is used in asset management.”

Golub said: “Even today with an increase in the use of technology in underwriting, there’s a gap between institutions and good borrowers which limits consumer access to the right capital. Pagaya is closing that gap with their AI. I’m thrilled to join them as they modernize our global financial ecosystem.”

In February, Pagaya closed a $75 million debt-financing deal with Citigroup.