Domestly, the on-demand home cleaning app that connects domestic workers directly with homeowners, created 600 jobs in its first six months and went on to win MTN’s Business App of the Year. Co-founder Thatoyaona Marumo’s advice on scaling without losing sight of the people the business serves still holds regardless of what stage a startup is at.
What problem was Domestly actually built to solve?
Domestly, founded by CEO Berno Potgieter and COO Thatoyaona Marumo, connects domestic workers directly with homeowners looking for on-demand cleaning services through its app, rather than relying on informal word-of-mouth arrangements. The founders were explicit from the start that job creation for unemployed South Africans, not just convenience for homeowners, was core to the business, and the platform created 600 sustainable jobs in its first six months alone.
What early validation did Domestly actually earn?
In 2016, Domestly was crowned overall winner of the MTN Business App of the Year and also took the Best Consumer App title, in a competition that drew over 450 entries. The following year, the founders secured their first round of institutional funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a meaningfully different kind of validation from an award, since it required convincing a state development finance institution the underlying business model was viable at scale.
What did Marumo identify as the actual hard part of scaling?
Her focus areas for scaling were specific and unglamorous: understanding growth KPIs properly, improving implementation methods, building repeatable processes for business operations, and tightening up financials. None of these are the exciting part of running a startup, but they’re the part that determines whether early traction survives contact with real growth. It’s a discipline several other South African founders have arrived at independently, including in what SA entrepreneurs wish they knew before starting a business.
What’s Marumo’s warning about chasing growth targets?
Her stated wish captures a tension many scaling founders face: “Within our pursuit to hit quarterly and annual targets, reach break-even point, to ‘win’ etc, that we never lose sight of those we serve, i.e. having trusting teams and clients that can rely on us.” The risk she’s naming is real: a business can hit every growth number on a spreadsheet while quietly eroding the trust of the domestic workers and clients its entire model depends on.
Is Domestly still operating today?
The company appears to still be active, with current job openings listed on its recruitment page, though specific current figures on jobs created or app usage weren’t independently verifiable. The model it pioneered, connecting domestic workers directly to clients through an app rather than through informal or agency-based arrangements, has since become a more established category in South Africa’s gig economy.
Frequently asked questions
How does Domestly connect domestic workers with clients?
Through its app, which lets homeowners book on-demand cleaning services and connects them directly with domestic workers on the platform.
What funding has Domestly received?
Its first round of institutional funding came from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), following early traction that included winning MTN’s Business App of the Year.
What’s the biggest lesson from Domestly’s early scaling phase?
That operational discipline (clear KPIs, repeatable processes, tight financials) matters as much as growth itself, and that scaling too aggressively risks the trust of the workers and clients the platform depends on.
Originally published in January 2019. Updated September 2026.
