Alexandre Bellity (SKEMA 2011), founder of Cleany, responsible and innovative cleaning company

Alexandre Bellity founded Cleany in 2012 just after graduating from SKEMA. In this interview, he shares his experience and background. In January 2022, Cleany celebrated its 10th anniversary. 

Can you tell us what you got up to after SKEMA?

After following an international programme at SKEMA, called IMiM or International Master in Management at the time, I graduated in 2011 with an MSc in Corporate Financial Management. I had just spent 3 rich and intense years in a fantastic atmosphere, and I was really motivated to launch an entrepreneurial venture. I founded Cleany in 2012 right after finishing school, and I’ve been its CEO ever since.

Tell us about Cleany

At Cleany we make one promise: to modernise the office cleaning sector by banking on manpower and technology. The cleaning sector is a sector that is somewhat stuck in the past, completely impervious to new technology, and doesn’t make optimal use of its lifeblood, the operatives out in the field. At Cleany, the cleaners are all recruited and trained at the Cleany Academy, the goal being to have the best cleaners in the market, and for them to be happy to work for us. Cleaning operations are supported by Cleany technology to optimise efficiency. This technology includes tools like smart dispatch, real-time reporting, and data centralisation. It gives us a real competitive edge, but we don’t lose sight of the fact that our people are our most valuable asset. We have a headcount of 350 today and the plan is to bring that up to 1,000 next year.

What will be the challenges in your line of work over the coming years?

Customer satisfaction & employee engagement are two priorities to reconcile. Technological startups are eliminating the traditional players by focusing their efforts on delivering on a promise that is always the same: customer satisfaction. It is crucial to hold on to employees. They are the best ambassadors of their company if they are happy working there, engaged and fully involved in the venture. Cleany wants to reconcile these two key elements in the life of the company.

Freeing up Maintenance departments

Maintenance departments are gradually evolving towards more of a Facility Management & Workplace Services role. Their new mission: to apply the HR policy within the walls of the company and provide employees with a work environment in which they can thrive. At stake? Employee retention and protecting the “employer brand” Cleany wants to position itself as a partner to all companies that are adapting to these new challenges.

Technology at the core of Cleany’s future

Technology is there to relieve some of the burden for the different actors, from the Maintenance Department on the client’s premises to the operational teams and field agents of the service provider. By automating or simplifying the most repetitive and the less rewarding tasks, Cleany tech allows us to save time so we can concentrate on tasks with real value. In the cleaning market, which is backward, saturated and the source of much dissatisfaction, technology simplifies clients’ lives and improves the working environment for cleaners: it’s a way to reinstill meaning, by using technology to support an ambitious social and sustainable vision.

Cleany might just be the first real CleanTech business! 🙂 

Contact: Alexandre Bellity, founder and CEO of Cleany