The FGB Digest brings you the latest news on the world’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer and challenger brands. In today’s edition: MyBuddy.ai continues ed tech funding streak; The Craftory becomes a B Corp; and Neat raises USD$11m for cross-border trade.

MyBuddy.ai continues ed tech funding streak 

MyBuddy.ai, a startup that develops virtual tools to help kids learn English, has announced that it has raised USD$1m in seed funding from LETA Capital. The capital will be used to expand into new markets and develop new features including mini-classes about health.

In a press statement, MyBuddy.ai co-founder and CEO Ivan Crewkov said, “The demand for online education is rising sharply due to the pandemic. This has exacerbated the chronic shortage of qualified English language teachers needed for half a billion kids struggling to learn English as a second language. Our AI-powered tutor Buddy can handle the mundane part of their work. He provides unlimited practice of spoken English, can scale to millions of students and is always available.”

Last month, MyBuddy.ai merged with Edwin, an edtech startup that also focuses on learning English for non-native speakers. Edwin’s  products included a chatbot based on adaptive learning and natural language understanding AI, and an on-demand tutoring service. The combined company kept the name MyBuddy.ai and is focused on integrating technology from both startups into the Buddy app.

The Craftory becomes a B Corp

London-based investment fund The Craftory, which invests exclusively in "mission-driven" consumer brands, has been awarded a B Corp certification.

The Craftory, whose current fund size reaches $375m, offers permanent, early-stage, and growth capital to consumer brands that it deems to positively impact society and the planet. Investment beneficiaries have included plastic-free detergent company Dropps and food technology brand NotCo, which is exploring plant-based alternatives for dairy products using artificial intelligence.

Elio Leoni Sceti, company co-founder, said the accolade was a "remarkable achievement for a company that is less than two years into their journey".

He mused that "the tide of history has turned. For today's consumers it's about honesty, provenance, quality and sustainable use of our planet's resources. This is everything that B Corp stands for and we're proud to demonstrate that we hold ourselves to the same standards as our investments."

Chris Turner, executive director of B Lab UK, the British arm of the broader B Corp movement, said he hoped The Craftory's promotion would "inspire other investors" and help "spread the idea that we can redefine success in business to be as much about people and planet as it is about profit."

Neat raises USD$11m for cross-border trade

Neat, a Hong Kong-based fintech startup, has announced that it has raised a USD$11m Series A to help small businesses do cross-border trade. This brings Neat’s total funding to USD$16.5m, including its seed round announced at the end of 2018.

Neat also announced a strategic partnership with Visa, which means that in the next few months Neat will start issuing Visa credit cards to SMEs and startups.

Like San Francisco-based Brex, which achieved a USD$2.6bn valuation last year, Neat focuses on giving startups and small businesses a more efficient, online alternative to traditional banking.

Its services allow them to open business accounts for multiple currencies online, send and receive payments from different countries and apply for corporate credit cards. Neat’s new funding will be used for expansion, with a focus on Southeast Asian customers that do trade with European companies. Last year it opened a Shenzhen office to serve Chinese export businesses, as well as an office in London for Western European companies that trade in China.

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