Egyptian Home Services App Filkhedma Acquired by South African Giant

New funding is flooding local startups, giving them upward mobility to snag a strategic partnership with global companies. This deluge of fresh funds being pumped into the MENA region is ushering in a new era of startup-to-startup acquisitions, joining forces to accelerate expansion and the development of services.

In the latest in a string of homegrown startups targeted by international players, Filkhedma was fully acquired by Africa’s largest home services firm, South Africa’s SweepSouth, bolstering transcontinental economic relations. Existing shareholders in the Cairo-based home services provider including Algebra Ventures and Glint Consulting are also taking a few million USD in shares in SweepSouth as part of the stipulations of the agreement. This major milestone comes shortly after the startup’s latest round of investment from the Cairo Angels, which laid down the foundation for the acquisition. 

Through this agreement, the South African startup will double its potential market in Africa, expanding into three Egyptian cities through Filkhedma while gaining access to its 2000 cleaning maintenance and beauty service providers on its network in Egypt. At the same time, Filkhedma will benefit SweepSouth’s extensive industry experience and advanced technologies to aid in upgrading its services and expanding its geographical scope. With operations in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, SweepSouth will open the door for FIlkhedma’s entrance into new markets on the continent by adding the Egyptian startups services to its South African offering. 

Within the acquisition package comes a restructuring of the management with founder and CEO Omar Ramadan taking over as the chief business officer for the combined entity. This new move will overhaul the roles of Filkhedma managing team, pushing staff to venture into new positions locally and regionally. 

Fueled by this latest acquisitions and its latest funding round, Filkhedma is planning for an ambitious expansion, eyeing three new markets regionally and globally. Going hand-in-hand with the expansion ambitions, the company is also set to launch a marketing campaign in the first quarter of 2022 with the goal of growing its business in Egypt by 5-10x over the year.