{"id":154908,"date":"2025-11-26T16:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T16:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/154908\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T16:28:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T16:28:08","slug":"two-kenyan-startups-among-10-finalists-for-nba-africa-innovation-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/154908\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Kenyan startups among 10 finalists for NBA Africa innovation prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ian<\/a> By
\n
\n Ian Omondi
\n <\/a>
\n Published on: November 25, 2025 07:07 (EAT)
\n \"Two <\/p>\n

From left: NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum, Maged Farrag (UBR VR), Peng Chen (HustleSasa), Yewande Akinse (Salubata), Folayemi Agusto (Festival Coins) and NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi at the first \u201cNBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator\u201d Demo Day at NBA headquarters in New York in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Vocalize <\/p>\n

Audio By Vocalize<\/p>\n

Kenya will once
\nagain have a strong presence on the continental innovation stage after NBA
\nAfrica unveiled the 10 finalists for its second Triple-Double Startup
\nAccelerator, with two Kenyan companies making the cut. <\/p>\n

The finalists, drawn from five African countries, will pitch their ideas at a Demo Day slated
\nfor December 5 at Carnegie Mellon University Africa in Kigali, Rwanda.<\/p>\n

The programme, now
\nin its second year, focuses on elevating early-stage African startups shaping
\nthe future of sports and the creative economy. More than 700 applicants threw
\ntheir hats in the ring, but only 10 made it to the final shortlist.<\/p>\n

Kenya\u2019s flag will
\nbe flown by ProPath Sports and Safia Health, both promising ventures rooted
\ndeeply in the country\u2019s growing sports tech and wellness ecosystem.<\/p>\n

ProPath Sports, a
\ndata-driven talent development company, says it is transforming how young
\nathletes are discovered and nurtured in Kenya. Its iSTEAM program blends
\nathletic performance evaluation with holistic talent development \u2013 an approach
\nthat aligns with Kenya\u2019s push to professionalize youth sports. <\/p>\n

On the wellness
\nfront, Safia Health is building a unified platform that supports athletes with
\npersonalized fitness, recovery and mental wellbeing regimens. For a country
\nwhere structured athlete welfare has remained a stubborn gap, the Kenyan
\nhealth-tech startup brings a modern, integrated solution to the table. <\/p>\n

NBA Africa CEO
\nClare Akamanzi described the finalists as proof of a rising wave of African
\ninnovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quality of
\nthis year\u2019s applications reflects the incredible talent and creativity among
\nAfrica\u2019s young entrepreneurs as well as the important role that the sport and
\ncreative industries are playing in the continent\u2019s development,\u201d said Ms. Akamanzi.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThese startups
\nrepresent the bold spirit of innovation rising across the continent \u2013 where
\ncreativity meets purpose, and ideas have the power to scale beyond borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the Kenyan
\nrepresentatives, the final pool includes startups from Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco
\nand South Africa working in virtual reality, blockchain-based art investment,
\nathlete performance analytics, creative collaboration and more. <\/p>\n

Five of the ten
\nwill be selected to receive financial support and join CMU-Africa\u2019s 12-month
\nBusiness Incubation Program.<\/p>\n

Last year, Kenya\u2019s
\nHustleSasa was among the four prize-winning
\ncompanies to receive funding and mentorship during the inaugural edition,
\nsetting a precedent for strong Kenyan participation in the accelerator. The
\nothers were: Festival Coins (Nigeria), Salubata (Nigeria), and UBR VR (Egypt).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ian Omondi Published on: November 25, 2025 07:07 (EAT) From left: NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[138,336,102848,111,139,69,102850,102851,102849],"class_list":{"0":"post-154908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-nba-africa","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-propath-sports","15":"tag-safia-health","16":"tag-triple-double-startup-accelerator"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}