Ceebee

What Ceebee does

CeeBee (Pty) Ltd is a South African debt recovery specialist focused exclusively on school fee arrears, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Boksburg. The company serves more than 850 schools — spanning ISASA-affiliated private schools, fee-paying public schools, and special-needs institutions — providing contingency-based collection of unpaid tuition, with a "no collection, no charge" model in which all costs (credit listings with four bureaus, legal fees up to judgement) are borne by CeeBee. Mora interest recovered from debtors is passed back to schools, bringing the effective client cost to approximately 16% of collected debt. Adjunct fee-based services include Section 41 Final Demand letter preparation, exemption application verification and processing, and credit/deeds-office checks on prospective parents.

The underlying platform is a computerised school fee debtor management system that allows schools to download debtor information in real time via a secure client portal, supported by Sonic Firewall-protected servers, off-site secure access for remote collection staff, and live-monitored recorded calls. CeeBee is registered with the Council for Debt Collectors under the Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998 and is a member of the Association of Debt Recovery Agents (ADRA), with annual BVSA audit, Bryte cyber insurance of R25 million, Hollard professional indemnity of R5 million, and Standard Bank commercial crime cover on its trust account.

Distribution is a direct-to-schools field sales motion run through regional account managers covering Inland & Limpopo, Kwa-Zulu Natal & Mpumalanga, and Cape Town & Free State, supplemented by partnerships with FEDSAS, SAOU, and ACSI International and sponsorships of major educational conferences including Hoofdesimposium, FEDSAS Finance Conference, and ACSI Roundtable. Each school is assigned a dedicated Debt Manager under a month-to-month Memorandum of Agreement with no long-term contractual commitment. The company is wholly South African owned, owner-run, and self-funded, with no venture or private equity investment indicated. Leadership comprises CEO Douglas Brake, Founding Director Charleen Brake, Managing Director Simone Porter (LLB, in-house attorney), and Financial Director Alvina Barnett, supported by a 51–100 employee headcount operating nationally.

Name

Ceebee

Legal name

CeeBee (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://ceebee.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

CeeBee is a South African debt recovery specialist, founded in 1999, that uses a contingency-based "no collection, no charge" model to recover unpaid school fees for more than 850 private, public, and special-needs schools nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

School Fee Debt Collection Services

NAICS

Collection Agencies (561440), Collection Agencies (56144)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAKAJAB

Third-Party Collection Agencies (Consumer)

Financial & Insurance/Lending & Consumer Finance/Debt Collection, Recovery & Servicing

SECONDARYEDALAJAG

Collections, Delinquency Management & Bad Debt Recovery

Education/Student Services & Campus Operations/Financial Aid, Scholarships & Student Accounts (Bursar)

SECONDARYEDALAJAK

Financial Literacy, Debt Counseling & Default Prevention

Education/Student Services & Campus Operations/Financial Aid, Scholarships & Student Accounts (Bursar)

Keywords

• School fee debt collection
• Debtor verification services
• Education sector collections
• Credit bureau listings
• Exemption application processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Boksburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Contingency-based School Fee Debt Collection: Primary revenue stream. No charges are levied unless CeeBee successfully collects the debt. The company uses a fixed fee structure where Mora interest is added to the debt and recovered from the debtor, effectively bringing client costs down to approximately 16%. CeeBee recovers a portion of its commission through interest charged to the debtor. All costs relative to the collection process (credit listings, legal costs up to and including Judgement) are borne by CeeBee.
2. Exemption Processing Service: A fee-based service available to school clients where CeeBee verifies exemption application information, analyses applications in terms of Exemption Regulations, prepares outcome letters for the School Governing Body, and produces requisite control sheets and statistical reports. This service is provided at a cost separate from the contingency collection model.
3. Credit Checks and Debtor Verification: Tracing and background credit check services available as an additional service to Private School clients. Schools can choose from normal credit bureau checks, deeds office searches, employment verification, and full comprehensive checks. Schools use this service during new enrolment applications to verify parent information.
4. Section 41 Letter Service: CeeBee prepares and sends Section 41 Final Demand letters via Registered email or Registered Mail on behalf of schools. The only cost to the school is the actual per Registered email/mail costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CeeBee provides contingency-based school fee debt collection services to South African schools, recovering outstanding tuition fees from parents on a no-collection-no-charge basis. The company supplements this core service with credit checks and debtor verification, Section 41 Final Demand letters, and exemption application processing, delivered through a dedicated debt manager model and a secure online client portal.

Product overview

CeeBee is a South African school fee debt collection company operating since 1999. The company offers a single integrated service platform focused on school fee debt recovery, supplemented by four add-on modules: Credit Checks & Debtor Verification, Section 41 Letters, and Exemption Processing. All services are delivered through a personalized approach with dedicated debt managers and supported by a client portal for schools to access debtor information and progress reports.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers19 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and supporting.

• FEDSAS (Federasie van Beheerliggame van Gautengse Skole)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerFEDSAS (Federation of Governing Bodies of Gauteng Schools) is a major educational association and partner/sponsor of CeeBee. FEDSAS represents and supports school governing bodies in Gauteng, South Africa. CeeBee participates in the FEDSAS Finance Conference (2025), indicating a co-marketing and referral relationship within the education sector.
• SAOU (The Change in Education)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerSAOU is an educational association/union representing teachers and education professionals in South Africa. SAOU is listed as a partner/sponsor of CeeBee, indicating a co-marketing relationship within the education ecosystem.
• ACSI International (South Africa)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerACSI International is a Christian education association with a South African chapter. CeeBee participates in the ACSI Roundtable (2025), indicating a partnership for accessing Christian schools as clients. ACSI provides access to member schools that align with CeeBee's target market of ISASA and private schools.
• Council for Debt CollectorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Council for Debt Collectors is the statutory regulatory body for debt collectors in South Africa, established under the Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998. CeeBee is registered with the Council for Debt Collectors, indicating regulatory compliance and licensed operation as a debt collection agency.
• ADRA (Association of Debt Recovery Agents)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADRA is the primary industry association for debt recovery agents in South Africa. CeeBee is a member of ADRA and adheres to the association's Code of Ethics and highest levels of professional conduct. ADRA membership provides CeeBee with industry credibility and regulatory standing.
• BVSA Audit IncorporatedsupportingOthersBVSA Audit Incorporated has acted as auditor to CeeBee Debt Management Services (Pty) Ltd since 2000. A full audit of the company's Trust account and collection procedures is conducted annually, providing financial credibility and trust assurance to clients.
• Bryte Insurance (Cyber Protection)supportingOthersBryte provides Cyber Protection insurance to CeeBee to the value of 25 million Rand, protecting the company and its clients against cyber risks. This insurance supports client trust and demonstrates operational professionalism.
• Hollard InsurancesupportingOthersHollard provides Professional Indemnity cover to CeeBee to the value of 5 million Rand, underwritten by Hollard. This protects CeeBee against professional liability claims from clients.
• Standard Bank (Trust Account Insurance)supportingOthersStandard Bank provides Commercial Crime Insurance on CeeBee's Trust account for 3rd party funds for up to 1 million Rand per case. Standard Bank also acts as CeeBee's banking partner with the company account (Branch Code 011842, Account Number 020719442) and PayShap ID services.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Indigo Kulani: South African debt collection agency providing consumer and commercial collections. Directly comparable to CeeBee as a third-party collection agency operating in South Africa under the Debt Collectors Act, though it serves a broader customer base rather than specializing in schools.
• National Debt Advisors: South African debt advisory firm that helps over-indebted consumers negotiate with creditors. Operates in the same South African consumer debt recovery space as CeeBee, though primarily through consumer counseling rather than third-party school fee collection.
• DebtBusters: One of South Africa's largest debt counseling and debt management firms, operating a similar fee-based consumer debt recovery model. While DebtBusters focuses more on consumer debt restructuring than B2B school fee collection, it operates in the same South African regulatory and competitive landscape.
• CallForce: South African outbound contact center specializing in debt collection, customer retention, and lead generation. Mirrors CeeBee's technology-led call-center-driven collection model and serves similar financial services and consumer credit clients in the same market.
• Debt Rescue: Major South African debt counseling company registered with the National Credit Regulator. Comparable to CeeBee in operating under the country's debt recovery regulatory framework and serving consumer default scenarios, though its model is more consumer-direct counseling than third-party B2B collection.

Broad incumbents

• LexisNexis Risk Solutions: Global data and analytics provider serving the collections industry with skip tracing, identity verification, and credit data. CeeBee leverages similar data infrastructure (credit bureau checks, deeds office searches) and competes against LexisNexis-enabled efficient collection operations even though LexisNexis is an enabler rather than a direct collector.

Others

• Experian South Africa: South African credit bureau and consumer credit information provider. One of the four credit bureaus through which CeeBee lists defaulting debtors, representing a key infrastructure dependency for CeeBee's collection workflow and a standard data partner across the South African collections industry.
• TransUnion South Africa: Major South African credit bureau. CeeBee lists credit at four bureaus including TransUnion as part of its collection workflow, and the bureaus' enforcement infrastructure is a key element of CeeBee's value proposition — making them an important ecosystem partner and indirect competitive enabler.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ceebee5075
• Facebookfacebook.com/ceebeedebt
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ceebee-management-services

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Ceebee