The National Basketball Association (NBA) has unveiled the four prize-winning start-up businesses from ‘NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator,’ which NBA Africa launched in April to support the continent’s technology ecosystem and the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
The four winning businesses – Festival Coins (Nigeria), Salubata (Nigeria), HustleSasa (Kenya) and UBR VR (Egypt) – will be awarded financial support and mentorship, including an opportunity to participate in workshops and development programs facilitated by NBA Africa or its partners.
The 10 finalists, shortlisted from more than 700 early-stage African start-up businesses that applied to participate, pitched their products to a panel of international industry leaders at a Demo Day at the NBA headquarters in New York City.
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The judges included Accelerate Africa Co-Founder and CEO Iyinoluwa Aboyeji; NBA Assistant General Counsel, Technology, Software Licensing and Digital Platforms, Franciscus Diaba; Managing Director, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda, Crystal Rugege; Chegg Inc. Executive Chairman, Dan Rosensweig; and Partner at Development Partners International, Joanne Yoo.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also delivered opening remarks and met the 10 finalists.
Below are the four winning businesses:
- Festival Coins (Nigeria) – an event technology company that offers a customizable, no-code event registration and ticketing platform called Tix Africa for events in Nigeria and Ghana, won the first-place prize and $50,000
- Salubata (Nigeria) – a company that creates modular shoes repurposed from plastic waste to reduce the global carbon footprint through its environmentally-friendly products, won the second place prize and $40,000
- HustleSasa (Kenya) – which provides live event services that support payment processing, attendee check-in, merchandise sales, customer data management, influencer tracking, and more, won the third-place prize and $30,000
- UBR VR (Egypt) – which delivers state-of-the-art, fully immersive, in-person virtual reality (VR) experiences across Egypt, won the fourth-place prize and $20,000
The six other finalists each received a $10,000 prize.
“Congratulations to all of the incredibly talented entrepreneurs who participated in this year’s program, with special recognition to the 10 finalists and four distinguished winners,” said NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi. “These outstanding companies have demonstrated the creativity, drive and determination to shape the future of sport in Africa and will help the continent take its rightful place on the world stage. We look forward to following their successes for many years to come.”
NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator is open to early-stage start-ups in Africa that develop solutions in event management and ticketing, youth development, AI, and digital marketing.
