As we reflect on the journey of SweepSouth, it’s hard to believe that a decade has passed since we first embarked on this incredible adventure. Founded in June 2014, SweepSouth began with a simple yet profound vision. Based on our own frustrating experience in struggling to find help at home, and in seeing the opportunity to impact the domestic work industry in South Africa positively, we took a gamble and poured our life savings into this new venture, selling our home (which we’d scraped up money to put a deposit on only two years prior) and everything in it, to get the company off the ground.
We’ve always had a “don’t look back” attitude to life, believing that you should burn the ships and focus on looking forward. Today, however, as we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we look back with pride on all of the company’s accomplishments that are shared by every individual who has been a team member, customer, SweepStar, or investor, and also look forward with excitement for what the future holds.
The story of SweepSouth started in our living room, driven by a desire to create a platform that could connect homeowners with reliable, vetted help at home, at the touch of a button. We saw an opportunity to leverage technology to bring convenience to households and to provide dignified, fair employment opportunities for domestic workers. From these humble beginnings, SweepSouth was born.
We interviewed prospective SweepStars on our couch and spent countless hours driving to bookings, fulfilling cleaning jobs ourselves, getting customer feedback by phone, and obsessing over the user experience for both customers and SweepStars. In one of many memorable bookings, Aisha managed to lock herself outside of a customer’s home while taking the garbage out after cleaning. Then she got stuck on a second-floor balcony trying to climb back in via a window. This resulted in an embarrassing exchange with a neighbour, who almost called the police after seeing a shadow near her window. However, she eventually allowed Aisha to call a locksmith for help.
Inevitable hiccups aside, over the past decade, we’ve achieved milestones that once seemed like distant dreams. We were the first South African startup to be accepted into the prestigious 500 Startups accelerator in Silicon Valley, a testament to the global potential we saw in our vision. We were also one of the first South African tech companies to use a SAFE note for fundraising.
The platform has grown exponentially, expanding from a handful of cleaners in Johannesburg to tens of thousands across multiple cities. We have facilitated millions of bookings, ensuring homes are clean and families have more time to focus on what matters most. But more than that, we’ve created meaningful work opportunities for a huge amount of women and men in South Africa and beyond, helping them become part of the active labour force, take care of their families, study to better their chances at vocational employment, and along the way become a household name and an inspirational example for many entrepreneurs, particularly women, who aim to build impactful companies.
We’ve been recognised widely for our work, including by Forbes, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune. Our awards also include recognition for innovation by the World Economic Forum, FNB, and the South African Venture Capital Association, among others. Some highlights have included bringing renowned South African founder and investor Vinny Lingham as an investor, being Naspers Foundry’s first investment, having South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa call us out for impact and innovation, and receiving a visit from Melinda Gates at our Cape Town offices.
As we celebrate 10 years, we’re filled with gratitude for our dedicated team including Luke Kannemeyer, our very first team member, our loyal customers, and our investors, including our earliest backers. Last but not least, we’re grateful to the hardworking service providers who are the very backbone of SweepSouth. Their trust and support have been instrumental to the company’s success, and we’re excited for many to tell their SweepSouth stories over the coming month.
Looking ahead, we are so excited about the next decade’s possibilities, with our new CEO, Lourandi Kriel, at the helm helping to drive our mission forward. SweepSouth will expand services to even more geographies, bringing our model to more communities around the world, and continue to launch new product offerings that make being home, feel great. Our focus will also remain on leveraging technology to enhance our services and to continue improving the lives of SweepStars.
Thank you for being part of our journey. Here’s to another decade of growth, innovation, and making a positive impact!
