NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum announced the four awarded startup companies from “NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator”, which was launched by NBA Africa in April 2024 to support the continent’s tech ecosystem and the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
The four winning companies – Festival Coins (Nigeria), Salubata (Nigeria), HustleSasa (Kenya) and UBR VR (Egypt) – will receive financial support and mentoring, including the opportunity to participate in workshops and development programs facilitated by NBA Africa or its partners.
Details
The 10 finalists, qualified from more than 700 African early stage startups who applied to participate presented their products to a group of international industry leaders at a Demo Day at NBA headquarters in New York on September 25.
Among the judges was the co-founder and CEO of Accelerate Africa Iyinoluwa Aboyeji; NBA Assistant General Counsel, Technology, Software Licensing and Digital Platforms Franciscus Diaba; CEO, Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda Crystal Rugege. Chegg Inc. Executive Chairman Dan Rosensweig; and partner at Development Partners International Joanne Yoo.
Commissioner of the NBA Adam Silver he also made opening remarks and met the 10 finalists.
Accelerator winners
- Festival Coins (Nigeria), an event technology company that offers a customizable, code-free event ticketing and registration 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 recycled from plastic waste to reduce the global carbon footprint through its eco-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), offering state-of-the-art, fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences across Egypt, won the fourth place prize and $20,000.
The other six finalists received one each $10,000 prize.
Demo Day was supported by three official partners: Paystack Payment Ltd., Kuramo Capital Management, and Nigeria University of Technology and Management (NUTM).
What They Say
“Congratulations to all the incredibly talented entrepreneurs who took part in this year’s programme, with special recognition to the 10 finalists and four distinguished winners”, said the CEO of NBA Africa Claire Akamantzi.
“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.”
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