LekkeSlaap, the South African accommodation booking site that competes with Airbnb and Booking.com, has been sold to a consortium of local investors. The deal was announced on 8 October 2026, and the price was not disclosed.
The buying group is co-led by Bellair Road Investment Partners, a Cape Town private equity firm, and Janic Capital, the Dippenaar family's investment vehicle run by Adriaan Dippenaar. Investec, the Ferreira Family Office and the Moolman Family Office invested alongside them. The sale covers all of Tripco, the parent company behind LekkeSlaap, the business told TechCentral.
Co-founders Jonathan Womersley and Marcel van de Ghinste have left, along with other long-standing shareholders. Chief executive Frans Joubert and his executive team have put their own money into the deal and will keep running the company.
What LekkeSlaap built
Womersley and Van de Ghinste met at the University of Cape Town in 2001. In 2009 they started their first booking site, TravelGround.com, from a garage with R12,000 (about $700) of starting capital and 300 listings. In 2013 they launched LekkeSlaap, whose name is a shortened Afrikaans phrase for sleeping well, as the country's first Afrikaans-language leisure accommodation site.
The newer brand did so well that it eventually replaced TravelGround as the company's main platform. LekkeSlaap now lists more than 40,000 properties across Southern Africa and says it has handled bookings for more than nine million guests. It has been named South Africa's Leading Online Travel Agency at the World Travel Awards three years running, and it is based at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
Launch Base Africa, citing data from rental software firm Guesty, reported that about 80 per cent of the properties on the platform are small businesses, and that Tripco is the largest of the local players, which together take roughly 10 per cent of commission revenue in the market.
“To see LekkeSlaap grow from a small startup into a brand used and loved by millions of South Africans has been incredibly rewarding. After so many years, finding new owners who share our culture, values and vision for the business matters enormously to us. We genuinely believe we have found the right long-term owners for LekkeSlaap, and we couldn't be more excited to see what the management team and the new owners build from here.”
Who is buying
The consortium brings together some of South Africa's best-known financial families. GT Ferreira and Laurie Dippenaar co-founded Rand Merchant Bank in 1977 with Pat Goss and later built FirstRand. TechCentral confirmed that the Ferreira Family Office belongs to GT Ferreira. Janic Capital describes itself as a permanent capital vehicle that invests for the long term in fast-growing businesses.
Bellair Road was founded in 2019 by Handre Daffue and Marcel Boezaart and backs companies including Montego Pet Nutrition, Econofoods and Freedom of Movement. Investec is a dual-listed specialist bank founded in Johannesburg in 1974, and the Moolman family has developed commercial property since 1967.
PSG Capital and law firm ENS advised the sellers. Werksmans, Deloitte and Scrums.com advised the buyers, Bizcommunity reported.
A new board and plans to expand
Herman Bosman, chairman of OUTsurance Group and Fortress Real Estate and a former CEO of RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings, has become LekkeSlaap's chairman and invested through his vehicle Atelier Partners. Robert Paddock, co-founder of GetSmarter, which US-listed 2U bought in 2017, and of Valenture Institute, has joined the board and also invested.
Bosman said LekkeSlaap showed what South African founders can achieve with a strong offer for customers and persistence. Joubert said the business would use the new backing to grow further across Southern Africa and spend more on technology and localisation, while staying local and independent in spirit.
Womersley said that after so many years it mattered a great deal to the founders to find owners who shared the company's culture and values.
Holding ground against Airbnb
LekkeSlaap has competed with Airbnb since the US company entered South Africa in 2015, and Airbnb has become the fastest-growing platform there by share of revenue, according to Launch Base Africa. The deal keeps the country's largest locally owned booking platform in South African hands.
The market it serves is growing. Launch Base Africa, citing IMARC Group, said South Africa's online travel market was worth about $2.8 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach $6.3 billion by 2034.
