Home cleaning startup, SweepSouth raises $11m pre-seed funding

South African Online home services platform, SweepSouth has announced that it has raised $11 million in pre-seed funding, its biggest. This is coming nine months after it acquired Egyptian home service platform, FilKhedma

The round was led by Alitheia IDF (AIF), Africa’s first and largest gender-lens private equity fund. Naspers Foundry, The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Futuregrowth Asset Management also participated in the round.

Other investors in the rounds also include Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor’s Harvest Fund II, Caruso Ventures, E4E Africa.

In addition to growing and further developing its infrastructure and team in South Africa, the online cleaning company claims that this most recent round of funding will enable the company to pursue both new expansions and acquisitions across the African continent and beyond.

The company also plans to roll out new services to its existing markets. Commenting on the raise, Aisha Pandor, Co-founder of SweepSouth, said:

This round is an important one for our team as we continue to scale in South Africa, and further grow our operations in Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt. We’re excited to continue SweepSouth’s work in connecting customers with home service providers across the continent, building a platform that empowers domestic workers and local tradespeople.

Aisha Pandor, Co-founder of SweepSouth

According to Nairametrics, the sum raised is a reflection of the company’s valuation and its social impact. The startup has grown significantly since its previous funding round.

Read Also: Eden Life expands to Kenya, acquires Lynk 

About SweepSouth

Co-founded in 2014 by Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic, SweepSouth is an online home cleaning service company. The cleaning company has established a presence for itself in each of Africa’s four major tech markets.

It commenced operations in South Africa in 2021 and later expanded its services to Kenya and Egypt. In 2022, the company launched its services in Nigeria.

With the new fund, the startup will be better positioned to compete favourably against similar players like Fichaya and Eden, which have also raised similar funds.

Read Also: Naspers Foundry Invests $2.1m in On-Demand Cleaning Service Startup, SweepSouth

A bit about the Investors

The SweepSouth investment round was spearheaded by Alitheia IDF (AIF). Two women-led businesses, Alitheia Capital (Lagos, Nigeria) and IDF Capital, co-founded and manage the women-led private equity fund, which has a gender lens and is worth $100 million (Johannesburg, South Africa).

At the close of 2021, the raise surpassed all other gender-lens private equity funds in Africa.

Commenting on the investment, Polo Leteka, Principal Partner at Alitheia IDF Fund, said,

We are proud to support SweepSouth’s growth as it expands its platform that substantially improves the financial and social outcomes for domestic workers across Africa, most of which are women.

Polo Leteka, Principal Partner at Alitheia IDF Fund