Cape Town-based on-demand home cleaning and services platform SweepSouth has raised a further US$11-million (R200-million) in funding, this time led by Alitheia IDF, a private equity fund.

The investment will allow the start-up to expand into new markets and grow its existing operation, and comes nine months after it concluded the acquisition of Egyptian home services platform FilKhedma.

The new round, SweepSouth’s largest to date, comes after strong growth in the company’s valuation. Current investors Naspers Foundry, The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Futuregrowth Asset Management all committed to participate in the new round, as did new investors Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor’s Harvest Fund II, Caruso Ventures and E4E Africa, it said.

SweepSouth was founded in 2014 by Aisha Pandor and her husband, Alen Ribic, and has a presence in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt.

“This latest round of funding will allow the company to further develop and grow its infrastructure and team in South Africa, roll out new services in existing markets, and pursue both greenfield expansions and acquisitions across the African continent and beyond,” the company said in a statement.

Now read: SweepSouth expands to Egypt with FilKhedma acquisition

“We are particularly proud to have raised funding from Alitheia IDF, a female-led fund, and to have included more women investors on the cap table via a female-focused special purpose vehicle during this round. We are excited about what this means for us going forward and thrilled to have Polo Leteka from Alitheia IDF join the board,” said Pandor in the statement.

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Alitheia IDF is a US$100-million “gender-lens fund” co-founded and managed by two women-led firms – Alitheia Capital (Lagos) and IDF Capital (Johannesburg). “The fund, which announced its final close in 2021 to become the largest gender-lens private equity fund in Africa, identifies, invests in and grows SMEs led by gender-diverse teams in six African countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia,” SweepSouth said. – © 2022 NewsCentral Media