In 2015, home and office cleaning services tech firm SweepSouth became the first-ever African company accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator program in Silicon Valley. Now it’s celebrating another first.
SweepSouth is the first recipient of investment from Naspers‘ newly launched $100 million venture capital fund, according to a press release.
Naspers is the South African consumer tech giant and investor that invested
$36 million in Chinese investment holding company Tencent in 2001. That 31 percent stake is now worth $133 billion.
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Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Naspers is Africa’s most valuable company with a market value of around $95 billion, and plans to list on Amsterdam’s Euronext bourse in the second half of 2019, FT reports.
Naspers Foundry, the Cape Town-based firm’s $100 million VC fund, was launched in October 2018 with the aim of investing in the South African tech sector.
The $2.4 million investment in SweepSouth brings the total funding raised by the company since it launched in 2014 to $2.7 million, according to CrunchBase.
The company was founded by Cape Town-based couple Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic. They were inspired to establish the startup when they struggled to find a cleaner for their apartment, BusinessInsider reports.
Since then, SweepSouth has created more than 10,000 jobs through a platform that connects clients with domestic cleaners, according to News24.
In 2015, the startup became the first South African company to take part in the Silicon Valley-based accelerator program, 500 Startups, according to Ventureburn.
SweepSouth was awarded $125,000 in seed funding as part of a four-month mentorship program.
500 Startups is a Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture fund and seed accelerator that was founded in 2010.
Aisha Pandor is the daughter of Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation.
