Two Egyptian Startups Among Five African Winners of the NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator Program

Five African startups have been selected as winners of the second edition of the NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator program.
NBA Africa is an affiliate of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a global sports and media organization that manages the league’s business in Africa, including the Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Accelerating Startup Growth
In April 2024, Disrupt Africa announced the launch of the “Triple-Double” program, a startup acceleration initiative that offers cash prizes and additional support to early-stage African startups.
The program targets African startups developing solutions in event management and ticketing, youth development, artificial intelligence, and digital marketing within the sports and creative industries.

Selection Process
Ten startups were announced as finalists in November and were later narrowed down to five winners after the finalists pitched their products to a panel of international industry leaders during a demo day held at Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) in Kigali, Rwanda.

Winning Startups
Moroccan startup Reborn secured first place. The company provides comprehensive performance indicators that give athletes deep insights into their physical condition and on-field performance. Reborn received a cash prize of USD 25,000.

Two Egyptian Startups
Egyptian startup Fitclan came in second place. Fitclan is a digital fitness platform that operates on a flexible subscription-based model for individuals and businesses. The company received a cash prize of USD 15,000.
Third place was awarded to Egyptian startup Athlon Technology, which aims to leverage mobile technology and artificial intelligence to provide video analysis for amateur sports teams and teams with limited budgets. The company addresses a market gap by offering a simple and user-friendly solution. Athlon Technology received a cash prize of USD 5,000.

Other African Startups
Nigerian startup Atsur ranked fourth. The company uses blockchain technology to enhance investment in African art and support artists and creative communities, earning a cash prize of USD 2,500.
Fifth place went to Nigerian startup Songdis, which offers comprehensive digital distribution services tailored specifically for African independent artists and companies. Songdis also received a cash prize of USD 2,500.

Scalable Products
In addition to financial support, the five winning startups were granted the opportunity to join Carnegie Mellon University Africa’s 12-month incubator program within its Innovation Center. The program supports African tech startups in transforming proof-of-concept models and early market validation into scalable, market-ready products and services.
The top three startups also received USD 10,000 in API credits, in addition to an intensive training day with the engineering team at OpenAI at its headquarters.

Innovative Entrepreneurs
Commenting on the program, Clare Akamanzi, Chief Executive Officer of NBA Africa, said: “We continue to be impressed by the creative, talented, and passionate entrepreneurs participating in the NBA Africa Triple-Double startup accelerator.”
She added:“The ten finalists and the five award-winning startups distinguished themselves through bold and innovative solutions that are shaping the future of sports and entertainment in Africa. The support they receive through this program will help them scale their products and create a lasting impact across the continent and globally.”

Source: Press Release