SweepSouth, a South African founded on-demand home cleaning and services platform has appointed a new CEO as Aisha Pandor, the startup’s founding CEO steps aside to her new adventures in the health tech/biotech space.
“It’s with much excitement and pride that I’m sharing the news of the appointment of Lourandi Kriel as SweepSouth’s new CEO,” said Pandor. “Lourandi’s appointment comes after an 18-month transition and will see our current SweepSouth MD, Luke Kannemeyer, move to the COO role.
Pandor, will not be stepping away from SweepSouth completely but will be involved in a different capacity, offering her brilliance and wisdom in continuing to grow the brand and vision. She will remain as an executive director, supporting the company on strategy, and dedicated to helping guide us in staying true to our original vision and mission.
“I’m grateful to Luke for the leadership role he has played, and look forward to supporting him and Lourandi as they achieve even greater heights as a team,” Pandor added. “Building SweepSouth to serve millions of bookings and become the leading home services platform on the African continent has been one of the biggest honours of my life.”
There have been allegations from SweepSouth’s domestic workers saying they’re forced to work extra hours for free but Pandor denies such allegations arguing that in an industry mired with historical challenges, “we’ve increased pay rates, agency, opportunity, tech and financial literacy, and awareness of working better towards the way things should be, for one of the most marginalised groups of workers on the African continent.
According to Pandor, the firm has directly positively impacted the lives of almost 50,000 women (and men), and many thousands more through their families and communities.
“I’m also proud to have been, and to continue to aspire to be, an inspiration and source of support for other women on the African continent and beyond who are building in tech,” she said.
Lourandi has strong experience leading fintech, retail and SaaS companies through growth, turnarounds, and on both sides of M&A transactions. She has served as CFO and CEO on the ground in regions including West Africa, MENA, Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia. Moreover, during interviews with her, apart from her strong intellectual, leadership and technical abilities, what also shone through is her people-centred approach, confidence, humility, integrity, humour, ambition and drive.
With her appointment, the new CEO is expected to drive the firm’s growth. SweepSouth is on a sustainable growth path and sits on a strong footing, with exciting opportunities on the horizon in terms of new verticals, business models, and geographies.
In November 2022, SweepSouth stopped its operations in Kenya and Nigeria months after expanding to both markets. The platform said it will shut down the two-units due to tough economic environments. However, its Egyptian operation, where it acquired FilKhedma, an online marketplace for home maintenance and improvement services like carpentry, plumbing, electricity, and air conditioning, among others, was not affected.
Earlier, the South African on-demand home cleaning and services platform raised $11-million in funding led by Alitheia IDF, a private equity fund aimed at expanding into new markets and grow its existing operation.