SweepSouth

What SweepSouth does

SweepSouth (legally Shift South (Pty) Ltd) is a South African digital home services marketplace founded in 2013 and headquartered in Cape Town. The platform connects homeowners and renters with vetted, independent domestic service professionals branded as SweepStars, offering bookings for indoor cleaning, outdoor and garden services, office cleaning, moving cleaning, laundry and ironing, Airbnb turnover cleaning, express cleaning, childcare (Mom's Helper), elder care, extra care, and dog walking. Services are accessible through a self-serve website and native iOS and Android apps, with matching and booking management handled by SweepSouth's proprietary platform. Trust mechanisms include a SweepStar vetting system (background checks, references, minimum two years' experience) and a Booking Cover insurance policy underwritten by Chubb Insurance South Africa, providing up to R5,000 per booking in household-contents coverage.

The company operates across four African countries — South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria — following its December 2021 acquisition of Egyptian startup FilKhedma, which doubled its addressable market. Beyond transactional bookings, SweepSouth generates recurring and fee-based revenue through three adjacent products: MyHome Hub, a R99/month subscription management tool for employers of private domestic workers (payroll, insurance, record-keeping); Placements, a full-time domestic-worker matching service with screening, interviews, and a 90-day replacement guarantee, priced at R999-R1,999; and Booking Cover insurance at R13-R21 per booking, plus digital gift vouchers (R250-R5,000). Marketing relies on a product-led growth model augmented by social media, a referral program, employer-benefit partnerships, and brand integrations with Airbnb, Momentum Multiply, and Standard Bank's UCount Rewards. SweepSouth is venture-backed, having raised approximately $11 million in a 2022 Series A led by Alitheia IDF with participation from Naspers Foundry, Endeavor, Futuregrowth, and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and operates with 101-250 employees.

Name

SweepSouth

Legal name

Shift South (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://sweepsouth.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

SweepSouth is a Cape Town-based digital marketplace connecting homeowners across South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria with vetted domestic service professionals (SweepStars) for cleaning, childcare, elder care, and home maintenance bookings, supplemented by subscription management and placement services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Home Services Marketplace

NAICS

Janitorial Services (561720), Services to Buildings and Dwellings (5617)

SIC

Services-Personal Services (7200)

akta.pro primary industry

Same-Day/On-Demand Recurring Cleaning (Subscription-Based) (HSAEAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Occupied Move-In/Move-Out Cleaning (With Belongings) (HSAEACAB), Add-On Services for Move Cleaning (Inside Cabinets/Fridge/Oven/Windows/Walls/Baseboards) (HSAEACAI), Turnover Cleaning for Unique Stays (Cabins/Tiny Homes/Glamping/Boats) (HSAEAEAL)

Keywords

• Home services marketplace
• Domestic cleaning platform
• Vetted cleaners booking
• Home care services
• Domestic worker placement

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Service Booking Transactions: Platform takes transaction fees from cleaning, gardening, childcare, elder care, and other domestic service bookings made through the website and mobile app. Customers pay per booking with pricing based on service type, duration, and home size.
2. MyHome Hub Subscription: Monthly subscription at R99 per month providing management tools for private domestic workers including automated payment processing, insurance access, and record-keeping.
3. Placement Services: One-time placement fees for connecting clients with permanent domestic workers, nannies, or carers: R999 for cleaners, R1999 for carers and nannies.
4. Booking Cover Insurance: Optional insurance add-on at R13 per booking (or R21 for additional once-off bookings) providing household contents coverage.
5. Gift Vouchers: Digital gift vouchers sold at R250, R500, R1000, R1250, and R5000 denominations with no expiry date.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

SweepSouth operates an online home services marketplace platform that connects residential and commercial customers in South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria with vetted, background-checked independent domestic service providers branded as SweepStars. The platform enables customers to book a range of services including indoor cleaning, outdoor/garden services, office cleaning, laundry, moving cleaning, childcare, elder care, dog walking, and full-time domestic worker placement. Revenue is earned primarily via transaction fees on bookings, supplemented by a subscription management product (MyHome Hub) and one-time placement fees.

Product overview

SweepSouth is a home services marketplace platform connecting customers with vetted, independent cleaning and care professionals (called SweepStars) for on-demand or scheduled services. The core platform (SweepSouth Platform) operates via web and mobile app and supports booking across South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt. The service portfolio spans core cleaning and care offerings — Indoor Cleaning, Outdoor Services, Office Cleaning, Moving Cleaning, Laundry & Ironing, Mom's Helper, Airbnb Cleaning, Elder Care, Express Cleaning, Extra Care, and Dog Walking — supplemented by add-on modules: Placements (full-time worker placement with screening and 90-day guarantee), MyHome Hub (R99/month subscription for employer management of private domestic workers), Booking Cover (Chubb-underwritten household contents insurance up to R5,000 per booking), Gift Vouchers (R250–R5,000), SweepCred (platform credit system), and a Satisfaction Guarantee. The company also acquired the Egyptian platform FilKhedma in 2021.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SweepStars: The term used for SweepSouth's service providers (cleaners, gardeners, and other home service professionals) who are vetted and rated on the platform.
• MyHome Hub

Products and services

• SweepSouth Platform
• Indoor Cleaning
• Outdoor Services
• Office Cleaning
• Moving Cleaning (Move In / Move Out)
• Laundry & Ironing
• Mom's Helper
• Airbnb Cleaning
• Elder Care
• Express Cleaning
• Extra Care
• Dog Walking
• Placements
• MyHome Hub
• Booking Cover
• Gift Vouchers

Quantifiable outcome

• Vetted service providers with 2+ years work experience requirement
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FilKhedmacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2021Egyptian home services startup acquired by SweepSouth in December 2021. The acquisition doubled SweepSouth's addressable market in Africa and enabled expansion into Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria.
• Momentum MultiplyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBrand partnership displayed on Sweepsouth website as a partner brand, indicating co-marketing or loyalty program integration.
• AirbnbminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBrand partnership displayed on Sweepsouth website, with Sweepsouth offering Airbnb cleaning services for hosts.
• UCount RewardsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerStandard Bank loyalty program partnership allowing UCount members to earn or redeem rewards on Sweepsouth services.
• Chubb Insurance South AfricacoreOthersUnderwriter of Sweepsouth's Booking Cover household contents insurance policy, providing coverage up to R5000 per booking for damage or theft attributable to SweepStars.
• Surestart Online Financial ServicesminorOthersInsurance broker handling claims and customer service for Sweepsouth Booking Cover policy underwritten by Chubb Insurance.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• TaskRabbit: General task marketplace for home services, cleaning, moving help, and handyman work. Comparable marketplace platform structure, although TaskRabbit is broader in scope and operates primarily in North America and Europe.
• Helpling: Global online platform for booking vetted home cleaners, operating across Europe, Middle East, and other regions. Closely comparable to SweepSouth in transactional cleaning marketplace model and insured-booking trust layer.
• Handy: US-based online marketplace connecting customers with pre-vetted cleaning and home improvement professionals. Directly comparable to SweepSouth in marketplace model, vetting of service providers, and per-booking transaction revenue.
• Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap): India- and UAE-based home services marketplace offering cleaning, beauty, plumbing, and care services through vetted professionals. Directly comparable multi-vertical marketplace model with similar target customers and transaction-fee economics.

Broad incumbents

• Thumbtack: US-based home services marketplace connecting customers with local professionals across hundreds of categories. Broader and more established than SweepSouth, but operates on a similar lead-generation and professional-matching model.
• Angi (Angie's List): Large US home services marketplace (formerly Angie's List) connecting homeowners with service professionals. Operates at much greater scale and breadth than SweepSouth, but with overlapping cleaning and home services categories.
• Care.com: Global online marketplace for child care, senior care, pet care, and housekeeping. Comparable to SweepSouth's elder care, Mom's Helper, and Placements offerings, with a similar trust-and-vetting value proposition.

Emerging players

• Blys: Australia-based platform for booking vetted wellness and home services professionals. Comparable marketplace model with vetted provider network, though narrower category focus than SweepSouth's broad domestic services catalog.
• BookMyBai: India-based domestic help and maid placement platform. Comparable to SweepSouth's Placements product and domestic worker marketplace concept in an emerging market context.

Regional players

• Mamahealth / Domestika (Africa home services): Jiji is one of Africa's largest general classifieds and services platforms with significant home services listings across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and other African markets. Comparable in regional reach but operates an open classifieds model rather than SweepSouth's curated-vetting approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SweepSouthSA
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@SweepsouthSA
• Facebookfacebook.com/SweepSouthSA
• Instagraminstagram.com/sweepsouth_sa
• TikToktiktok.com/@sweepsouth

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors21 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SweepSouth