SweepSouth has received Ksh. 1.3 billion (US $11 million) in funding in an investment round that was led by African private equity fund, Alitheia IDF (AIF).
Current investors Naspers Foundry, The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Futuregrowth Asset Management all committed to participate in this new round, as did new investors Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor’s Harvest Fund II, Caruso Ventures, and E4E Africa.
SweepSouth was founded in 2014 by Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic. The company 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, rollout new services in existing markets, and pursue both greenfield expansions and acquisitions across the African continent and beyond.
“This new funding 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,” says Aisha Pandor, co-founder of SweepSouth. “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. 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 SPV 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.”
Alitheia IDF (AIF), Africa’s first women-focused and women-led private equity fund, is a US$100 million gender-lens fund. It was founded and is managed by two women led firms, Alitheia Capital (Lagos, Nigeria) and IDF Capital (Johannesburg, South Africa). The fund identifies, invests in, and grows SMEs led by gender-diverse teams in six African countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
SweepSouth Kenya is an online home services platform that connects users to vetted and rated domestic workers, gardeners and more in your area. In 2021, SweepSouth 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.
SweepSouth launched SweepSouth Connect in Kenya early this year. The service connects customers to pre-vetted service professionals for all their fixing and home maintenance needs.