With the start of a new year comes the beginning of new horizons for many, which is exactly what the SweepSouth team has to look forward to. It is a bittersweet time as we say goodbye to our founder and (now) former CEO, Aisha Pandor, and say hello to a new CEO, whose capabilities and experience in many different fields combined have us feeling more than inspired.
Aisha, however, will not be stepping away from SweepSouth completely. She will still be involved in a different capacity, offering her brilliance and wisdom in continuing to grow the brand and vision she is and has been so passionate about since day 1.
What better way to hear about this exciting news than from Aisha herself:
A Message from our Founder and Former CEO – Aisha Pandor
“It’s with much excitement and pride that I’m sharing the news of the appointment of Lourandi Kriel as SweepSouth’s new CEO.
Lourandi’s appointment comes after an 18-month transition and will see our current SweepSouth MD, Luke Kannemeyer, move to the COO role, while I 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.
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.
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. 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. We’ve 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.
I’m grateful for the SweepStars who chose to trust SweepSouth as a way to earn a livelihood, to the fantastic team who commit significant parts of their lives to driving the SweepSouth mission, to the customers who trust us in helping around their homes, and to the investors who believe in our vision. This, in addition to the thousands of supporters in the form of mentors, advisors, family and friends, and cheerleaders, who have rooted for us from the sidelines.
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 addition to this, the challenges the team has overcome post the pandemic, have only served to entrench even deeper the importance of impact, purpose, service and values-led growth. Here’s to so much more!
I’ve often said one of the most beautiful things about being a founder is being able to imagine a vision of a better world, and build that into something tangible, that exists in the real world outside of your mind. We did that with SweepSouth. And the company’s best years are still ahead.
I look forward to supporting Lourandi and the team as a partner at board level, and also to my own new adventures in the health tech/biotech space, and in continuing to support other founders, particularly women, in their own startup journeys.
So excited to see SweepSouth achieve new heights with Lourandi at the helm!”
