South Africa’s largest accommodation bookings app LekkeSlaap has been acquired by a consortium of investors.
Founded by university dropouts Jonathan Womersley and Marcel van de Ghinste in 2009, LekkeSlaap began life in a garage as TravelGround with 300 establishments listed. LekkeSlaap itself was launched in 2013, as South Africa’s first Afrikaans leisure accommodation booking platform, quickly usurping TravelGround, and growing to the point it now lists over 40,000 properties across Southern Africa and has managed bookings for over nine million guests since inception.
It has now been acquired for an undisclosed amount by a consortium of investors co-led by investment firms Bellair Road Investment Partners and Janic Capital, alongside the Ferreira Family Office, the Moolman Family Office, and Investec. The platform’s current executive management team has also invested and will continue to lead LekkeSlaap, but Womersley and van de Ghinste have exited.
“LekkeSlaap remains proudly local and independent in spirit, but with the right partners behind us, we can now dream even bigger,” said CEO Frans Joubert.
Former RMB CEO and Outsurance Group chairman Herman Bosman will now chair the board of LekkeSlaap, and GetSmarter co-founder Robert Paddock has also joined the board. Both have invested in the acquisition.
Bosman called LekkeSlaap a great example of what South African entrepreneurs could build with persistence and ambition.
“I am excited to join LekkeSlaap as chairman and to guide and support Frans, the management team, and fellow shareholders as LekkeSlaap enters its next phase of growth,” he said.
Passionate about the vibrant tech startups scene in Africa, Tom can usually be found sniffing out the continent's most exciting new companies and entrepreneurs, funding rounds and any other developments within the growing ecosystem.