NBA Africa Startup Accelerator Reveals 10 Finalists for Preview Day

NBA Africa announced on Wednesday that 10 startups from seven African countries have been selected to showcase their products to a panel of international industry leaders.

The event is scheduled to take place on September 25 at the NBA headquarters in New York, USA.

Demo Day will be part of the “Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator” program, which the league launched in April 2024 to support the African tech ecosystem and the next generation of African entrepreneurs.

The Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator, run by ALX Ventures, was open to early-stage startups in Africa that are developing solutions in event management and ticketing, youth development, artificial intelligence and digital marketing.

The initiative aims to support the African tech ecosystem and the next generation of African tech entrepreneurs by providing them with access to mentorship and capital to help drive growth in the sports and creative industries.

During Demo Day, a panel of experts will select four winning startups that will receive financial support and mentoring, as well as the opportunity to participate in workshops and development programs organized by NBA Africa or its partners.

NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi said NBA Africa aims to support the continued growth of startups on the continent, including four award winners whose innovative solutions will further impact the growth of sports and creative industries in Africa in the coming years.

“We are inspired by the level of talent and creativity of all the candidates and congratulate the 10 deserving finalists who will showcase their innovative solutions at Demo Day later this month,” she said.

The 10 finalists who will compete for the top four spots include:

• Support (Rwanda) – Provides a wearable technology solution called WristWrist for venues and event organizers to facilitate cashless payments at event venues. WristWrist provides a payment system where attendees can load money onto their wristbands before the event and spend it at the venue through seamless, fast transactions.
• Buzza (Nigeria) – It helps sports organizations improve their operations with digital solutions, including enabling organizations to move from paper-based to digital management, create websites, collect payments, and increase revenue. Athletes can also register on the platform to track their matches and results, and build their profiles to become more well-known sports figures and influencers across Africa.
• Festival Coins (Nigeria) – This is an event technology company that offers a customizable, codeless registration and ticketing platform called Tix Africa for events in Nigeria and Ghana. It allows event organizers to sell tickets online, process payments, and handle registration on-site.
• Gara (Ivory Coast) – It is a pan-African video game and comic platform that encourages and facilitates the distribution of digital entertainment experiences on the continent. Through culturally relevant products, including games featuring local stars and flexible payment systems for local currencies, Gara aims to facilitate greater reach and monetization of creative and cultural industries on the continent.
• HustleSasa (Kenya) – It offers live event services that handle payment processing, attendee check-in, merchandise sales, customer data management, influencer tracking, and more.
• Naemo Global (Nigeria) aims to revolutionize sports scouting on the African continent with its proprietary scouting software, Afriskaut, which uses data analytics and artificial intelligence. The Afriskaut platform processes football match footage and extracts key data, which it shares with clients via the platform and an application programming interface (API) to support scouting of the next generation of elite talent.
• Power for Girls Foundation (Ghana) – Provides a social networking and mentoring platform called My Power App, dedicated to empowering and supporting girls and women ages 13-20. The platform provides educational resources, connects users with mentors, offers a confidential helpline, and supports a community of like-minded girls addressing critical areas of development such as education, mental health, and personal development.
• Salubat (Nigeria) – It creates modular shoes that are repurposed from plastic waste. With a global patent and two design rights for its innovation, the company aims to reduce the global carbon footprint through its eco-friendly products.
• UBR VR (Egypt) – It offers state-of-the-art, fully immersive, in-person virtual reality (VR) experiences throughout Egypt. Its rich historical and fantasy VR worlds are culturally relevant and localized, allowing players to move freely in enclosed spaces and interact with each other within a designated play area. These VR experiences are unmatched in the country and foster a sense of connection with both the local community and other players.
• Vambo Technologies (South Africa)- It provides a digital language technology platform that uses AI to provide real-time translations, content creation, and language learning technology. Vambo AI not only offers widely spoken languages ​​such as Amharic, Yoruba, French, and Portuguese, but also offers more niche languages ​​spoken throughout Africa to facilitate true digital inclusion on the continent.

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