On-demand cleaning service Domestly has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
The funds will be used by Domestly to gain market traction and promote job creation.
The start-up also said that the institutional funding from the IDC will help the business in expanding not only its national footprint, but will also allow it to grow its in-house technology team.
Domestly is aiming to advance the way the world cleans their homes. It utilises technology to connect cleaning professionals directly to homeowners through its app, making the service affordable and accessible to everyone, and creating more job opportunities.
By August 2016, Domestly created 600 sustainable jobs and the app was developed by co-founders Thatoyoana Marumo and Berno Potgieters.
The Domestly app is available for download on the Google Play and iTunes App Store.
In 2016, Domestly were crowned the kings of MTN App of the Year Awards 2016. However, Domestly was not only named as the overall winner of the prestigious competition, they also walked away with the Best Consumer App category.
“This is a great step forward for Domestly having the IDC as an investment partner and we look forward to this affiliation with them and to create further work opportunities for unemployed South Africans,” Berno Potgieter, Domestly CEO, said in the start-up’s blog.
The IDC is a national development finance institution set up to promote economic growth and industrial development. They promote entrepreneurship through the building of competitive industries and enterprises based on sound business principles. Their mandate is to contribute to the creation of balanced, sustainable economic growth in South Africa and on the rest of the continent by investing in South African Youth owned businesses.
Traditionally the IDC has invested in more mature industries, however, with several young entrepreneurs and start-ups becoming a greater source of employment in South Africa this has led to a successful partnership between the IDC and Domestly and opened a new door for young entrepreneurs in this country.
“Domestly is an exciting youth-owned business that the IDC has funded. Not only does Domestly connect cleaners and individuals but Domestly also results in a more efficient marketplace for cleaners providing them with increased job security,” said Ken Ogwang, Lead Deal Maker for the IDC.
“The IDC funding will go towards assisting Domestly to increase its market traction and improve its product offering thereby increasing employment in the sector.”
Investors in Domestly includes Ernst Hertzog, an angel investor who is a founder of Action Hero Ventures, Hannes van Rensburg – a founder of Fundamo that was bought by Visa in 2011 for $110 million, Adriaan Tromp – an investor who has worked for Fundamo, Yahoo and Visa, and Hein Carse – an investment manager of Remgro, and Hermanus Roode (former deputy CEO of JSE listed, Clover Industries) to name a few.
There are more than 900 000 domestic workers in South Africa, so it is one of the biggest sources of employment in the country. There is a great opportunity for many people find employment and be uplifted by a platform like Domestly.
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Hi there i m person who are interested to start a business.But i m a startup in business looking for funding. My business will be high pressure washing cleaning services.In most cases high pressure washing cleaning services are less in our country.I m asking help to start a business.I don’t have anything to produce only i have is company registration, tax and bbbee certificate.I have 2 types of cleaning as umbrella. On top of that there is machinery that ill start to hiring to the person who are interested. I have many equipment that i quoted and the is industrial heavy duty equipment.