The long-term vision is to grow SweepSouth into a billion-dollar unicorn, as demand for its services increases across SA, says Lourandi Kriel, CEO of the home cleaning services business.
Kriel, who took over from co-founder and former CEO Aisha Pandor last January, says among her many plans is the addition of a slew of new services on the platform and further expansion of SweepSouth nationally and internationally.
The Cape Town-based start-up, which was launched in 2014 by co-founders Pandor and Alen Ribic, allows users to book and pay for cleaning services by connecting them with domestic workers.
The mobile and web-based app has seen significant growth since inception, creating employment for over 33 000 SweepStars (domestic workers) who were previously unemployed or under-employed, and has paid out millions of rands in salaries.
Kriel tells ITWeb the business, which took a knock during the COVID lockdown, is steadily going back to its pre-pandemic growth rate of between 20% and 40% year-on-year in cleaning bookings.
Her short-term goals are firstly, to add new verticals on the platform, including pet sitting, pet care, child minding, nanny services and elderly care, which also feed into the company’s values around homecare.
Secondly, with 25% of clients on the app being businesses, the company is setting up a business-focused portal targeting new metros around the country.
Discussing her long-term vision, Kriel explains: “When you look at this market, in SA and globally, there is no Uber-size or Amazon-size business for home cleaning service yet. So, my long-term vision − and I can confidently say we are working towards that – is to become a globally recognised name for home services.
“That is very much long-term, but a very ambitious goal. Definitely unicorn status. Our new slogan is ‘aim for the unicorn’. We want to grow into that type of size platform because something of that magnitude doesn’t exist yet in our industry. We want to become a billion-dollar company and we already do valuations in dollars.”
Commonly used in the venture capital industry, the term ‘unicorn’ refers to a privately-held company with a value of over $1 billion, according to Investopedia.
Kriel could not divulge the current value of the business.
In 2018, SweepSouth told ITWeb it was anticipating to post top line revenue of R100 million.
Kriel is a certified chartered accountant with almost two decades of experience in various C-suite roles, including CFO, CEO and country manager. Her career spans a range of sectors, from entrepreneurial start-ups, to multi-national corporations and publicly-listed companies, where she has consistently driven business success and performance turnarounds.
Her expertise centres around strategic leadership, venture building, funding, finance and operations excellence, she notes.
She holds an MBA and has helped build sustainable long-term investor relationships, creating added value and fostering incremental returns for companies.
In 2020, SweepSouth diversified its services, by adding SweepSouth Connect to link users to vetted professionals and qualified service providers specialising in artisanal and professional services, such as electricians, plumbers and handymen.
This has been further expanded to other types of outdoor services, including heavy lifting, garage cleaning, gardening, car washing and window cleaning, among others – all available on the same platform.
“We find there is big need for these services and the outdoor vertical has grown by 30% year-on-year in terms of bookings. I think there's a big need in South Africa for somebody to help you in the garden and other outdoor services.
“We are really focusing on getting our services to a gold standard. As we focus and improve our services, we can see growth.
“COVID significantly boosted the gig economy and South Africans became more accustomed to using their phones to request a service, or make a purchase immediately,” comments Kriel.
In September, SweepSouth unveiled a brand refresh, and introduced a new logo, which it says has more life and colour, to reflect its values and future ambitions after 10 years in the industry.
As a company focused on job creation and people empowerment, SweepSouth runs skills development initiatives, and all workers on the platform – skilled or unskilled − are required to go through training programmes and vetting processes.
“So, we take somebody that is hopeless and unemployed, teach them skills and provide them with phones through our partners and offer them employment opportunities. Around 67% of our SweepStars are single household earners and 82% are breadwinners.”
Kriel attributes much of the company’s growth to its backers, which include Naspers Foundry, Futuregrowth, simple.Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and E4E Africa.
In 2021, SweepSouth acquired Egyptian start-up Filkhedma, a home services marketplace serving tens of thousands of customers with cleaning, maintenance and beauty services.
“We have a small Egyptian team that has been working hard and acquiring new business. They've got the same services, but much more expanded and also very specialised in the business clientele. While the economic conditions in Egypt can be challenging and most companies are not excited about operating there, we are very bullish and the business is growing well; it’s not a pain point for us.”
SweepSouth is present in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Centurion and Durban, with plans for further expansion in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and more areas within Gauteng.
“We are looking at places where there is a high concentration of home owners and where there are unemployed, unskilled workers. On an international front, we are looking at expanding to markets that are more mature than the South African market; possibly the US or European markets,” Kriel concludes.
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