Kiwi AI Startup Raises $2.3m To Address Global Burnout Crisis For Educators

A New Zealand-founded AI platform designed to address a global burnout crisis for educators, and adopted by over 12,000 teachers in 130 countries in its first 18 months, is set for further expansion following a multimillion-dollar capital raise.

Teacher’s Buddy was created by entrepreneurs Matt Abraham and Ben Sze to reduce teacher workloads, help with marking and student report writing, while producing curriculum-aligned teaching and assessment materials that also fit the specific needs of individual students.

The company has now raised $2.3m in trans-Tasman seed funding led by Auckland impact investment firm Soul Capital and Giant Leap in Australia.

The educational platform uses AI to help teachers create differentiated lesson plans, assessments, reports, planning documents and personalised learning material. Teachers can also select from Te Reo language preferences and can align with Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, curriculum values as well as produce customised learning content for neurodiverse students, English language learners and students at all ends of the learning spectrum.

Data shows teachers using the platform can save an average of two hours each day, giving them more time for face-to-face interaction with students.

Co-founder Matt Abraham says that while improving time efficiency is a core feature of the platform, the technology enhances the work teachers already do and allows them to move away from the one-size-fits-all approach to learning and toward a more customised approach that adapts to the needs of each student, while also staying aligned to the curriculum.

Research shows New Zealand teachers are working longer hours and reporting higher stress than the OECD average with one third saying they experience stress a lot in their work and full time teachers averaging 47.5 hours a week. Surveys also show teachers want more time for individual students and less administration which has become one of the most significant contributors to burnout across the profession.[1]

“Our platform can adjust a lesson to support students who are falling behind and can also generate more advanced material for students who need a greater challenge which is something teachers are already having to manage manually within very limited time and resource,” he says.

Abraham says there has already been significant uptake in New Zealand with more than 25 schools across the country adopting, trialing and contributing to the platform.

He says Teacher’s Buddy was built to solve one of the most pressing problems in education which is the rising workload that has pushed teachers past sustainable hours and workloads.

“Educators are often expected to manage lesson planning, teaching and reporting in the same week and many feel they are unable to give personalised attention to students who need extra support.

“I created Teacher’s Buddy after having been on the board of trustees of my own kids’ school in Northland for almost a decade and seeing first-hand the types of challenges teachers and schools face. I am passionate about supporting the incredible work that teachers do and everything we are building is intended to support and strengthen teacher wellbeing.

“We can’t expect good student outcomes if we’re neglecting the people we put in charge of facilitating their learning. We need to give them the tools to succeed,” he says.

Abraham says that, in addition to catering to a global audience, Teacher’s Buddy, intends to build its New Zealand presence through new partnerships, product developments and expanded support for local schools.

Jon Sandbrook, venture principal at Soul Capital, says education in New Zealand has reached a point where everyone recognises the need to do better, particularly for vulnerable and disadvantaged learners.

He says the pressure teachers are under however has seen the sector caught between rising expectations and limited capacity.

Sandbrook says the emergence of AI-enabled technology is giving the sector a rare moment to rethink how teachers are supported and how learning is delivered, and the Teacher’s Buddy platform shows what becomes possible when the use of technology is harmonised with the real needs of teachers and learners.

He says very few founders understand this space well enough to create a solution that is both genuinely useful for teachers and deeply impactful for learners, and Matt and Ben have lived this problem for years, which positions them uniquely to build something truly transformative.

“As impact investors we’re excited to see a direct line between Teacher’s Buddy and our impact priorities along with a highly scalable model”.

“The early adoption of the Teacher’s Buddy platform across so many countries demonstrates how urgent the need has become and that this marks a turning point in how education technology is built in New Zealand.

“We are backing Ben and Matt and the team because they have the clarity and discipline to deliver the model at scale, and we’re backing their solution because it empowers teachers to do what they do best – helping learners from all backgrounds and capabilities to realise their full potential,” says Sandbrook.

Teacher’s Buddy is preparing to launch the second generation of its platform which includes personalised professional development tools for teachers.

Abraham says the next stage of development also includes a platform extension that allows textbook publishers and educational resource providers to upload and license their curriculum-aligned content into the platform, leveraging the best parts of AI around trusted, curriculum-aligned content resources.

He says this will help accelerate the move toward customised learning which he believes will define the next decade of education across all year levels.

Teacher’s Buddy intends to grow to more than 30,000 teachers and 200 school partners over the next 12 months across New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

Abraham says New Zealand remains central to the company’s long term vision.

“We were founded here, and teachers in New Zealand face the same workload pressures seen globally. We want Teacher’s Buddy to become a permanent part of the education landscape, supporting schools across the country for years to come.”

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