Recently launched South African find-a-cleaner app Domestly has partnered on-demand accommodation platform Airbnb on a host level, allowing Airbnb hosts to use Domestly as part of their service experience.
Disrupt Africa reported last month on the launch of Domestly, which is similar to fellow South African startup SweepSouth in that it is a multi-platform marketplace that connects users with domestic cleaners.
The Cape Town-based startup gives consumers the freedom to choose a professional home cleaner based on their experience and recent reviews, and enables cleaners to confirm job requests and track their work schedules at the click of a button. Payment is made electronically.
Chief executive officer (CEO) Berno Potgieter told Disrupt Africa partnering with Airbnb hosts was a natural fit as the way Domestly is packaged is a similar methodology, user experience and process to Airbnb, and as a result was a complementary solution.
“The Airbnb hosts approached Domestly as they saw the value proposition to their own offerings,” he said. “We are seeing a gradual increase alongside the Airbnb market gearing up for the holiday season as well.”
Potgieter said the number of registered Domestly users was growing by a few hundred each week, with a “good chunk” from Airbnb hosts.
The startup, which has already raised a multimillion rand investment round from local investors including Hannes van Rensburg and Ernst Hertzog, is currently only available in Cape Town and surrounding areas, though it will be rolling out to other South African cities in the next few months.
Potgieter told Disrupt Africa last month the cleaning industry is one of the oldest industries in South Africa but had never innovated and was ripe for disruption.
“We plan on bringing the whole industry together on our platform, adding credibility to cleaners to work for themselves on our platform as well as cleaning companies to run their businesses,” he said.
