NBA Africa has announced the 10 startup finalists for the second edition of its Triple-Double Accelerator, a program designed to elevate early-stage African innovators building solutions across sports and the creative economy. The finalists — selected from more than 700 applications spanning five countries — will pitch to an international panel of industry leaders at a Demo Day scheduled for December 5 at Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) in Kigali, Rwanda.
This year’s cohort reflects the growing depth of Africa’s tech ecosystem, with solutions ranging from blockchain-enabled art marketplaces and virtual reality football experiences to athlete performance tools, AI-powered video analysis and digital distribution services tailored for Africa’s creative sector.
Alongside the announcement, NBA Africa confirmed that CMU-Africa has joined as an Official Partner of the program. CMU-Africa — the only U.S. research university offering full master’s degree programs with faculty and operations based on the continent — will support the winners through a 12-month incubation program housed within its Innovation Hub.
The accelerator is also supported by ServiceNow, whose AI-driven enterprise platform underpins the program’s technology focus, and ALX Ventures, which returns as the operating partner guiding the startups through product development and scale strategies.
A Pan-African Mix of Sporting, Creative and Tech Innovation
The 10 finalist startups represent Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco and Kenya:
- Athlon Technology (Egypt): AI-powered mobile video analysis for amateur sports teams.
- Atsur (Nigeria): Blockchain-enabled platform supporting African art investment.
- CoLab (South Africa): Collaboration and project management platform for creatives and entrepreneurs.
- Contestify (Nigeria): End-to-end digital contest management with real-time judging and payouts.
- Fitclan (Egypt): A digital fitness hub offering flexible subscriptions for individuals and corporates.
- Novate (Morocco): VR football viewing with seat selection, camera switching and social features.
- ProPath Sports (Kenya): Data-driven athlete identification and holistic talent development.
- Reborn (Morocco): Performance analytics platform offering deep athlete insights.
- Safia Health (Kenya): Unified platform integrating fitness, recovery and mental wellbeing tracking.
- SongDis (Nigeria): Digital distribution and label services for independent African artists.
A panel of global industry leaders will select five winners, each receiving financial support along with exclusive entry into CMU-Africa’s incubation program, which helps startups turn prototypes and preliminary market assessments into scalable, market-ready products.
A Growing Platform for Africa’s Creative and Sports Tech Economy
NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi highlighted the quality and diversity of this year’s applications, saying they reflect the “incredible talent and creativity among Africa’s young entrepreneurs and the important role of the sports and creative industries in the continent’s development.”
“These startups represent the bold spirit of innovation rising across the continent — where creativity meets purpose, and ideas have the power to scale beyond borders,” she said.
Last year’s inaugural program supported four winners — Festival Coins and Salubata from Nigeria, HustleSasa from Kenya, and UBR VR from Egypt — who received funding and mentorship to commercialize their solutions.
NBA Africa’s Expanding Footprint
NBA Africa continues to deepen its engagement across the continent through talent development, infrastructure investments, elite training programs, and the Basketball Africa League (BAL), which concluded its fifth season in 2025. With operations in Cairo, Dakar, Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi, the organization has positioned itself as a leading catalyst for sports innovation across Africa.
With the second edition of the Triple-Double Accelerator, NBA Africa is widening the pipeline of African tech talent capable of building globally competitive solutions rooted in culture, creativity and sport.
