# Betterworks vs Papaya Global

> A head-to-head look at two HR-technology companies playing very different games. Betterworks, founded in 2013, built its business on OKRs, the goal-setting method John Doerr carried from Intel to Google and later co-authored into the bestseller Measure What Matters. Papaya Global, founded in 2016 by Eynat Guez, went after global payroll and made a point of owning the payment rails in more markets rather than handing money to third-party local partners. One sells alignment and reviews; the other moves cash across 160-plus countries.

## Achievements

- Betterworks helped turn OKRs from a Silicon Valley practice into mainstream enterprise software, working with clients such as Colgate-Palmolive and Intuit.
- Papaya Global built a payroll and payments platform covering 160+ countries and 130 currencies.
- Papaya Global reached a $3.7B valuation in its 2021 Series D and later explored a sale reportedly valued up to $4.5B.
- Papaya Global's differentiator: owning payroll payment infrastructure directly in more markets rather than routing through third-party local partners.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Papaya Global reported in talks for a potential sale valued between $3.5B and $4.5B, with SAP, Oracle and private equity cited as possible acquirers.
- **2025-01** — Papaya Global projecting roughly $200M revenue and expected profitability for 2025.

## Links

- Website: https://www.papayaglobal.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/papaya-global/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/one-startup-bets-goals-other-owns-money
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-16
