SweepSouth, a South African cleaning company with operations in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria has announced its acquisition of Egyptian start-up, Filkhedma. Filkhedma is a home services marketplace operating across three regions on the continent and serving tens of thousands of customers with cleaning, maintenance, and beauty services. This is while empowering over 2,000 service providers through technology with consistent incomes and professional development.
The acquisition makes SweepSouth one of a few African start-ups operating in the continent’s four key tech ecosystems of South Africa, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria. It also means that all markets will have access to new services almost immediately, while the company as a whole will be primed for further expansion into other parts of Africa and the Middle East.
For South Africa, the biggest change will be the imminent rollout of beauty services. This will include manicures and pedicures, hair care and makeup services that can be done at home. This not only gives SweepSouth customers access to more services, but it also gives entrepreneurs in the field the opportunity to list on the platform. This allows access to a larger pool of potential customers. For Egypt, the company will benefit from SweepSouth’s technology, as well as the indoor and outdoor home cleaning services already available in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
Commenting on the acquisition, Aisha Pandor, CEO and co-founder of SweepSouth said, “We are thrilled to have Filkhedma as part of the SweepSouth family. It is not only their services that align with ours, but also their values and culture. Just like us, Filkhedma is passionate about providing quality and trusted home services, while creating work opportunities for those who need it most.”
On his part, Omar Ramadan, CEO and Founder of Filkhedma said, “We are happy with this incredible milestone and excited about joining forces with the SweepSouth team to fulfill our vision of empowering providers and delivering quality services in Africa and beyond. We already have well over 2 000 service providers on our platform and we’re confident that with the backing of SweepSouth, we will be able to sign up many more and expand into neighbouring countries, too.”