NBA Africa has named the 10 startup companies from five African countries that have been selected as finalists as part of the second edition of NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator, which the league launched last year to support the continent’s technology ecosystem and the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
The 10 finalists will pitch their products to a panel of international industry leaders at a Demo Day at Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) in Kigali, Rwanda, on Friday, December 5.
NBA Africa also announced that CMU-Africa has joined as an Official Partner of the program, which is open to early-stage African startup companies that develop solutions in the sport and creative industries.
CMU-Africa is the only U.S. research university offering its master’s degrees with a full-time faculty, staff and operations in Africa. ServiceNow – an AI platform for business transformation whose Now Assist and AI agents help organisations deliver faster and smarter experiences at scale – also serves as an Official Partner of NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator, while ALX Ventures – a leading technology incubator that provides the continent’s tech leaders with access to the skills and tools to launch and scale their startups – is once again operating the program.
The 10 startups, which were selected from more than 700 applications, will pitch their products to a panel of international industry leaders who will choose five winners to receive financial support and the opportunity to join CMU-Africa’s 12-month Business Incubation Program as part of its Innovation Hub, which helps African tech startups transform proof-of-concept prototypes and preliminary market assessments into scalable, market-ready products and services.
The 10 startups finalists are Athlon Technology (Egypt), Atsur (Nigeria), CoLab (South Africa), Contestify (Nigeria), Fitclan (Egypt), Novate (Morocco), ProPath Sports (Kenya), Reborn (Morocco), Safia Health (Kenya) and SongDis (Nigeria).
According to the Chief Executive Officer, NBA Africa, Clare Akamanzi, the quality of this year’s applications reflects the incredible talent and creativity among Africa’s young entrepreneurs as well as the important role that the sport and creative industries are playing 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., Akamanzi said”
Last year, four prize-winning companies – Festival Coins (Nigeria), Salubata (Nigeria), HustleSasa (Kenya) and UBR VR (Egypt) – were awarded financial support and mentorship as part of the inaugural edition of the programme.
