Buddy Learning

Operating

South African edtech linking learners to tutors and offering BuddyAI, a low-data multilingual AI tutor on WhatsApp.

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Employees
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About Buddy Learning

Buddy Learning is a South African education technology company that makes academic support more affordable by connecting learners with tutors and, more recently, with an AI tutor. Its core service matches school and university students to a network of around 70 tutors for booked sessions. BuddyAI extends this with a multilingual tutor delivered over WhatsApp that works on low data and can explain concepts in a learner's home language, which the company says gives students confidence ahead of lessons and exams.

The company serves parents, learners, teachers and schools, and reports having helped more than 10,000 users. It also sells learning products through an online shop and runs a community forum and rewards programme. Buddy Learning (Pty) Ltd was started by Tshaamano Mabuba, a Limpopo-born actuarial science student at the University of Cape Town who set out to address academic inequality; the business has operated for a little over four years.

Buddy Learning was listed among the Top Ten African Tech Startups at Africa Tech Festival 2024 and was recognised in MTN's Youth Hustle Hub competition in 2025. In October 2026 it was selected for the Google for Startups Accelerator: South Africa as an AI tutor on WhatsApp delivering low-data, multilingual tutoring.

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Frequently asked about Buddy Learning

Where is Buddy Learning based and when was it founded?
Buddy Learning is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and was founded in 2022.
What sector is Buddy Learning in?
Buddy Learning operates in EdTech and AI Technology.