Two Nigerian startups, Festival Coins and Salubata have been named winners of the NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator. This was disclosed in a statement seen by Technext. The winners were announced by NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer, Mark Tatum.
The NBA Africa accelerator was launched in April 2024 to support the continent’s technology ecosystem and the next generation of African entrepreneurs. Aside from Festival Coins and Salubata, other African startups that made the list include HustleSasa from Kenya and UBR VR from Egypt.
Speaking about the winners and the other six finalists, NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi said the startups demonstrated the creativity, drive and determination needed to shape the future of sports on the African continent.
“Congratulations to all of the incredibly talented entrepreneurs who participated in this year’s program, with special recognition to the 10 finalists and four distinguished winners. 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,” Akamanzi said.
Meet the NBA Africa accelerator winners
The NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator is open to early-stage startups in Africa that develop solutions in event management and ticketing, youth development, AI, and digital marketing. 10 finalists, shortlisted from more than 700 early-stage African startup businesses that applied to participate, pitched their products to a panel of international industry leaders at a Demo Day at the NBA headquarters in New York City on Wednesday.
The judges included Accelerate Africa Co-Founder and CEO, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji; NBA Assistant General Counsel, Technology, Software Licensing and Digital Platforms, Franciscus Diaba; Managing Director, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda, Crystal Rugege; Chegg Inc. Executive Chairman, Dan Rosensweig; and Partner at Development Partners International Joanne Yoo.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also delivered opening remarks and met the 10 finalists.
The four winning businesses are:
Festival Coins (Nigeria), an event technology company that offers a customizable, no-code event registration and ticketing 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 repurposed from plastic waste to reduce the global carbon footprint through its environmentally 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), which delivers state-of-the-art, fully immersive, in-person virtual reality (VR) experiences across Egypt, won the fourth-place prize and $20,000.
The winners will be awarded financial support and mentorship, including an opportunity to participate in workshops and development programs facilitated by NBA Africa or its partners. The six other finalists each received a $10,000 prize.
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