For years, basketball has been at the forefront of technology.
Everything from advanced player analytics, enhanced training tools, virtual reality/augmented reality, and online streaming platforms have all revolutionized how fans and athletes engage with the sport.
As a result, the sport has consistently grown year over year and is showing no signs of slowing down.
With this growth, the NBA has also become the second most followed league globally and Commissioner Adam Silver has prioritized innovation around the league.
The NBA Tech Summit, which takes place during NBA All-Star Weekend, and the NBA Launchpad Program, are clear indicators that the integration of technology has been a driving factor in the overall success of the NBA.
Here are some additional interesting facts about the league:
- The league has over 210 million followers across all social media platforms
- The average team is worth about $4 billion
- The Golden State Warriors are the most valuable NBA team at $7.7 billion
- The league reaches more than 214 countries
- There are currently more than 125 internal players in the NBA
And as the NBA’s global reach has expanded, naturally have the youth levels as well.
Right now, there are more than:
- 450 million basketball players across the world
- 26 million basketball players in the US
- 500,000 that play high school basketball
- 25,000 that play in some level of college
- 450 that play in the NBA
As the game has become more global, it has become harder to reach the highest levels of the sport.
The chances of making it from high school ball to the NBA are around 03%.
But these odds aren’t stopping players from participating.
The irony is that with technology, basketball has become more competitive and harder to become successful in, but technology is also the gas that helps fuel the appeal, accessibility, and development of players worldwide.
And with more startups building in and around the sport – you can bet these numbers will continue to grow.
Here Are 15 Of The Top Basketball Tech Startups To Watch Out For:
Huupe
Founders: Paul Anton & Lyth Saeed
Website: www.huupe.com
Location: Irvine, California
Year Founded: 2019
What they do: Huupe is the world’s first smart basketball hoop
Last raise: $11 million Seed round
GRIND Basketball
Founders: Thomas Fields
Website: http://www.grindbasketball.com/
Location: Houston, Texas
Year Founded: 2017
What they do: GRIND is a consumer brand developing the world’s first smart ecosystem of sports equipment products. They started with a portable basketball rebounding machine.
Last raise: $1.6 million to date
Sportsvisio
Founders: Jason Syversen
Website: https://sportsvisio.com/
Location: Boston, MA
Year Founded: 2021
What they do: SportsVisio’s revolutionary new AI can automatically understand and track various basketball statistics. Use your phone to record the game, our AI does the rest. See your box stats, highlights of shots, assists, points, and more. Easily share them with others.
Last raise: $3 million Seed round
SIQ Basketball
Founders: Harri Hohteri & Erik Anderson
Website: https://en.siqbasketball.com/
Location: Helenski, Finland
Year Founded: 2021
What they do: SportIQ is making sports intelligent by applying information technology in team sports by doing advanced analysis of an event in real-time using various sources like statistics, scoreboard, and player movements and combining that into the event footage and beyond.
Last raise: $3 million Seed round
Homecourt AI
Founders: Bilal Mekkaoui, David Lee, Philip Lam, Reggie Chan, Tony Sung
Website: https://www.homecourt.ai/
Location: San Francisco, California
Year Founded: 2017
What they do: HomeCourt is a mobile app that uses AI to record and track basketball shots, makes, misses, and locations.
Last raise: $4 million Seed round
Level Up – Basketball Training App
Founders: Eugene Lisovskiy
Website: https://levelupbasket.com/
Location: San Francisco, California
Year Founded: 2020
What they do: Level Up Basketball is a community-driven mobile app for basketball training, powered by AI coach, gamification, high-quality video workouts, and a marketplace of human coaches available for 1-1 online training sessions.
Last raise: $450k to date
Shoot360
Founders: Craig Moody
Website: https://www.shoot360.com/
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Year Founded: 2017
What they do: Shoot 360 combines cutting-edge science and technology with actual hands-on, one-on-one coaching—in person, in real-time, in a real gym environment.
Last raise: $2.25 million Series B round
ShotQuality
Founders: Simon Gerszberg
Website: https://shotquality.com/
Location: New York
Year Founded: 2020
What they do: ShotQuality delivers predictions and analysis powered by the best data in basketball.
Last raise: $3.2 million Seed round
ShotTracker
Founders: Bruce Ianni & Davyeon Ross
Website: https://shottracker.com/
Location: Mission, Kansas
Year Founded: 2013
What they do: ShotTracker helps improve competitive athletes’ performance by bringing elite-level analytics to the masses.
Last raise: More than $30 million over 10 years
DribbleUp
Founders: Eric Forkosh
Website: https://buy.dribbleup.com/
Location: Irvington, New York
Year Founded: 2016
What they do: DribbleUp is the first ever smart basketball to track and analyze your performance.
Last raise: $520K
Global Sports Analytics
Founders: Brandon Smith
Website: https://www.globalsportsanalytics.co/
Location: Los Angeles, California
Year Founded: 2016
What they do: Global Sports Analytics delivers tools for teams to win games, custom content for a better fan experience, and valuable insights for brands to grow.
Last raise: Not disclosed
UTRAIN
Founders: Daniel Ginsberg
Website: https://utrainmobileapp.com/
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Year Founded: 2019
What they do: UTRAIN is the #1 booking app for basketball trainers
Last raise: Not disclosed
VREPS
Founders: Shawn Cooper
Website: https://vreps.us/
Location: Seattle, Washington
Year Founded: 2015
What they do: VReps provides a platform where coaches and their players can simulate the action on the court in a 3D video game configuration, which improves training and practicing plays using technology.
Last raise: $2.5 million
Hoopfit
Founders: Farhad Noorzay
Website: https://hoopfit.com/
Location: San Francisco, CA
Year Founded: 2021
What they do: Hoopfit is the most advanced basketball shooting machine ever. Powered by advanced AI and computer vision.
Last raise: Undisclosed Pre-Seed round
Swish Hoop
Founders: Steven J. Gordon
Website: https://www.swishhoop.com/
Location: Boston, MA
Year Founded: 2014
What they do: Swish Hoop provides a basketball training system, activity tracker, and other products to help hoopers elevate their game.
Last raise: Not disclosed
Bonus: Robo Point Guard
Founders: Bill Krivak
Website: https://www.robopg.com/
Location: Houston, TX
Year Founded: 2018
What they do: ROBO Point Guard is taking basketball training into the future, using robotics, machine learning & AI to develop elite level performance.
Last raise: $250K Pre-Seed
