Huupe, World’s First Smart Basketball Hoop, Secures $11 Million in Funding
The tech startup says the funding will be used to launch the smart hoop and expand marketing efforts to reach more basketball players worldwide.
Driveways are about to become a lot more fun.
Huupe, the world’s first smart basketball hoop, has raised $11 million in funding for its high-definition backboard that allows players to train like a pro, track performance and compete against other players without ever leaving the driveway.
According to the tech startup, the funding will be used to launch the smart hoop and expand marketing efforts to reach more basketball players worldwide.
The weatherproof, full-size smart hoop can be installed indoors or outdoors and boasts a high-definition screen as a backboard that details targeted workouts from NBA skills trainers and youth trainers, allowing players to perfect their form and improve their game.
“The Huupe solves a major hole within the exercise and fitness industry,” Huupe co-founders Paul Anton and Lyth Saeed tell Athletech News. “Most smart, interactive exercise innovations don’t also incorporate the sports that exercise enthusiasts love to play. The Huupe experience will marry people’s love for basketball with their desire to exercise and stay fit. It’s the best of all fitness worlds!”
The Huupe joins other gamified fitness offerings, like Bhout, a connected fitness boxing bag that utilizes sensors, AI and machine learning.
The co-founders told TechCrunch they were childhood friends who used to play basketball together. Once they were older and lived in different cities, they wanted to create a way to play a game despite the distance. After some trial and error, the two decided to launch Huupe and spent time developing hardware and software that would enable the smart hoop to capture and analyze data using machine learning and computer vision.
Huupe’s accompanying app can be streamed from a mobile device to the smart hoop, allowing Huupe to track stats such as shooting percentage, position on the court, speed, agility and release time. In addition, the app allows basketball players to book time with their favorite trainers for live training sessions and run through the same drills that professionals do.
Huupe says the startup aims to provide access to quality basketball training, especially for those who live in areas without good training facilities or experienced coaches.
Aside from the focus on training, Huupe players can also participate in interactive games and challenges alone or with other players around the world.
The recent funding was led by Protagonist VC, Marvan Ventures (Keith Mardak, minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks), TRI Investments and Kawn VC, with major participation from Genesis Ventures, Reform Ventures (NBA player Thaddeus Young) and Kayan VC. Aristotle Loumis and Audie Attar were initial Huupe lead investors and founding board members.
The plan is to start with consumers, but one investor told TechCrunch he believes there is a Huupe market in the future that includes gyms, fitness centers, community courts and schools.
“We are extremely grateful to our family and friends, our investors, our customers and supporters,” said Anton. “Without them, none of this would be possible. Our dream is to connect the world through basketball and get people off the couch and playing more of it. We truly love and respect the game and created Huupe for people who love basketball just as much as we do.”
The Huupe is currently priced at $4,995 for the classic and $6,495 for the PRO, with the app subscription priced at $30 a month.
The startup says the first 1,000 pre-orders will receive $1,000 off their units.
