NBA Africa’s Triple-Double Accelerator Demo Day to feature 10 African startups pitching

The Triple-Double accelerator program will come to an end on September 25 with a demo day. NBA Africa has announced the ten startups from seven African countries that have been chosen to pitch their products to a panel of international industry leaders.

The National Basketball Association (NBA), a global sports and media organization, has NBA Africa as one of its affiliates. NBA Africa manages the league’s operations in Africa, including the Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Media outlets announced in April that applications for Triple-Double, an accelerator program designed to give cash prizes and other forms of support to African startups in their early stages, were now being accepted. Triple-Double is an initiative of tech incubator ALX Ventures, targeting early-stage African startups with solutions in digital marketing for sports and creative industries, youth development, event management and ticketing, and artificial intelligence.

Selected to participate in the program were ten African startups. They were paired with mentors from NBA Africa, ALX, and other corporate stakeholders to receive guidance on product development, business growth, and go-to-market strategy.

Following their pitches, the ten startups will have a demo day on September 25 at the NBA headquarters in New York City. There, a panel will select four companies that will receive financial support, mentorship, and the chance to take part in development programs and workshops led by NBA Africa or its partners.

Four of the chosen startups are from Nigeria: Salubata, which makes modular shoes out of plastic waste; Buzza, which helps sports organizations improve their operations through digital solutions; Festival Coins, which provides a customizable, no-code platform for event registration and ticketing; and Naemo Global, which has developed proprietary scouting software that makes use of data analytics and AI.

These include Backrest from Rwanda, which offers venues and event planners a wearable technology solution called WristWrist to enable cashless payments at event venues; Gara from Ivory Coast, a platform for video games and comics that promotes and facilitates the distribution of digital entertainment experiences across the continent; and HustleSasa from Kenya, which offers live event services that support payment processing, attendee check-in, merchandise sales, customer data management, influencer tracking, and more.

The Power to Girls Foundation in Ghana, which offers the My Power App, a social networking and mentoring platform aimed at empowering and supporting women and girls between the ages of 13 and 20, Egypt’s UBR VR, which offers cutting-edge, fully immersive in-person virtual reality (VR) experiences, and Vambo Technologies in South Africa, which offers a digital language technology platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide real-time translation, content creation, and language learning technology, round out the cohort.

“We have been inspired by the level of talent and creativity from all of the applicants, and we congratulate the 10 deserving finalists who will showcase their innovative solutions at Demo Day later this month,” said NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi.  “NBA Africa is committed to supporting the continued growth of startups on the continent, including the four prize-winners whose innovative solutions will further elevate the sport and creative industries in Africa for years to come.”