The five winning companies – 1) Reborn (Morocco), 2) Fitclan (Egypt), 3) Athlon Technology (Egypt), 4) Atsur (Nigeria) and 5) Songdis (Nigeria) – were awarded financial support and the opportunity to join Carnegie Mellon University Africa’s (CMU-Africa) 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 (valued at up to $70,000). The top three companies also each received $10,000 in Application Programming Interface (API) credits and an immersion day with the OpenAI engineering team at OpenAI’s headquarters.
The 10 finalists, which were selected from more than 700 applicants across 32 African countries, pitched their products to a panel of international industry leaders at a Demo Day today at CMU-Africa in Kigali, Rwanda. The judges were CMU-Africa Director Dr. Conrad Tucker, OpenAI Africa Lead Emmanuel Lubanzadio, and ServiceNow Africa Vice President & Managing Director Cheick Camara and Head of Strategy & Operations Nikki van Gasse.
Left to Right: OpenAI Africa Lead Emmanuel Lubanzadio, ALX Ventures Africa Lead Nour Abdelghaffar, ServiceNow Head of Strategy & Operations Nikki van Gasse, Carnegie Mellon University Africa Director Dr. Conrad Tucker, NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi, ServiceNow Africa Vice President & Managing Director Cheick Camara, and NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator winners Adaobi Orajaiku (Atsur), Melody Nehemiah (Songdis), Hani Youssef Hafez (Athlon Technology), Omar El Gebali (Fitclan) and Youssef Maaroufi (Reborn) (Credit: NBA Africa
The Demo Day was supported by CMU-Africa, ServiceNow and OpenAI. ALX Ventures once again served as the Official Operating Partner of the program in its second year. Together, the partners are contributing distinct expertise to strengthen the support for early-stage African startups.
Below are the five winning companies:
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1st place: Reborn (Morocco), which offers comprehensive performance indicators that give athletes deep insights into their physical condition and on-field performance, essential for identifying strengths, areas for improvement, and optimizing overall performance, wasawarded $25,000 in cash, the opportunity to join CMU-Africa’s Business Incubation Program, $10,000 in API credits, and an exclusive immersion day with the OpenAI engineering team at OpenAI’s headquarters.
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2nd place: Fitclan (Egypt), a digital fitness hub that leverages a flexible subscription model for individuals and corporate clients, was awarded $15,000 in cash, the opportunity to join CMU-Africa’s Business Incubation Program, $10,000 in API credits, and an exclusive immersion day with the OpenAI engineering team at OpenAI’s headquarters.
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3rd place: Athlon Technology (Egypt), whichaims to leverage accessible mobile technology and AI to provide video analysis for amateur and budget-constrained sports teams while addressing a market gap with a user-friendly, hardware-light solution, was awarded $5,000 in cash, the opportunity to join CMU-Africa’s Business Incubation Program, $10,000 in API credits, and an exclusive immersion day with the OpenAI engineering team at OpenAI’s headquarters.
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4th place: Atsur (Nigeria), which leverages blockchain technology to promote investment in African art and support artists and art communities, was awarded $2,500 in cash and the opportunity to join CMU-Africa’s Business Incubation Program.
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5th place: Songdis (Nigeria), which provides comprehensive digital distribution and services tailored for African independent artists and labels, was awarded $2,500 in cash and the opportunity to join CMU-Africa’s Business Incubation Program.
“We continue to be amazed by the creative, talented and passionate entrepreneurs who participate in NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator,” said NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi. “The 10 finalists and five prize-winning companies differentiated themselves through their bold and innovative solutions that are shaping the future of sport and entertainment in Africa. The support they receive from this program will help them scale their products and make a lasting impact on the continent and globally.”
