Technology-powered South African start-up SweepSouth, which provides online, on-demand home cleaning services, has secured R10m in new venture capital funding, it said on Monday.
The funding comes from the Vumela Fund, as well as from its existing investors – well-known technology entrepreneur Vinny Lingham and Llew Claasen’s firm, Newtown Partners.
The Vumela Fund, which was launched in 2010 to “create economic opportunities through high-impact entrepreneurship and job creation”, is capitalised by FirstRand Group and the Jobs Fund, and is managed by First National Bank in an alliance with Edge Growth. It focuses on the “scale-up phase” of a company’s development and has R388m in funds under management.
SweepSouth describes itself as an online platform for booking, managing and paying for home cleaning services. The platform allows users to book and pay for cleaning services, and connects clients with trustworthy cleaners.
News of the new capital raising comes after SweepSouth last year became the first local company to be selected by 500 Startups, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund and start-up accelerator.
“SweepSouth was founded on the belief that the home cleaning industry needed modernisation through technology as well as a change in mind-set towards the belief that everyone deserves access to dignified work at decent pay,” said CEO Aisha Pandor.
“SweepSouth has created thousands of job opportunities in the last few months for women, the vast majority of whom were unemployed, resulting in more than 100 000 hours of cleaning being completed over this time,” she said.
Pandor has a PhD in genetics and is a former management consultant with experience in human resources management, strategy and operations. Alen Ribic, SweepSouth’s co-founder and chief technology officer, has a decade of experience in software engineering, particularly in developing highly scalable systems. – © 2016 NewsCentral Media
