Viaka #4: Huupe - The World's First Smart Basketball Hoop
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Hi everyone, this is Hani. This week, we’re shining the spotlight on Huupe, the startup that’s created the world’s first smart basketball hoop. Founded by Lyth Saeed and Paul Anton, Huupe is related to Plus.VC’s, one of our MENA VC partners.
Plus.VC Quick Stats
Founded: 2019
HQ: Los Angeles
Founder: Lyth Saeed and Paul Anton
Raison d’être: Huupe is the world's first smart basketball huupe, with a screen for a backboard, that allows you to train like a pro, track your performance and play against other Huupe users right from your driveway,
Ask: Huupe is looking to connect with additional investors to fill out its seed round
I got the chance to chat with Lyth about Huupe, his story and goals for the future. Here are some of the insights from our chat.
*Check out this short Youtube Video of Huupe in action*
What is Huupe and how did it come to life?
Huupe is the worlds first Smart basketball hoop, with a screen for a backboard that allows you to train like a pro, track your performance, and play against other Huupe users right from your driveway.
Huupe was born for our love for the game. Paul was building an AR game for basketball. I came up with the idea for Huupe and we got started almost immediately on developing the product and coming up with a game plan.
What is your personal story and relation to the problem (alongside your founders)?
Our fathers met in college. My father is Palestinian and Paul’s father is from Greece. We grew up together as close friends. Our love for technology, art, and basketball is kind of what kicked this all off.
What market are you attacking? Are you adding on or trying to replace current offerings?
We are going after the basketball hoop market, as well as the basketball training market. We sell both D2C, as well as to gyms and schools. Our Huupe is far superior to any training offering on the market, or basketball hoop. Accessing on-demand training right from your driveway, while playing the game; and competing against other Huupe users live is revolutionary. We offer form correction, shot trajectory, make/misses and many more analytics.
What do you see as your biggest strength as a company?
Our biggest strength is the community we are building. Basketball has loyal players/ followers. Building around that is important to us.
What about your largest challenges?
The past few months getting our supply chain nailed down was our biggest challenge. We were lucky enough to have been able to make changes in our electronics prior to hitting the market. This allowed us to source components that had lower lead times and fit our BOM.
What are you looking for from the Viaka community?
Introductions to strategic investors. Particularly those who can help us grow/expand in the MENA region.
Where will that take you?
This will take us to a new market. We plan to go into the Australian, Chinese, and Japanese markets after the US.
*If you want to connect with Lyth and Huupe, fill out the form below and add “Huupe” in the “Reason for Joining” section.*
Promising Opportunities from Our MENA Partners
Below are a list of opportunities curated from the Viaka’s MENA partners.
For Investors
Huupe, the world's first smart basketball hoop, is raising a seed round and connecting with SportTech and Entertainment investors.
Iman Invest is closing a $3m post-seed round to build out their halal BNPL solution similar to Affirm/Klarna, that enables customers to invest and get funding ethically according to their belief
Agel is closing a seed round of $1m to provide Islamic financing options to Egyptian MSMEs in industries previously overlooked by traditional financial institutions.
Startup Falcon is looking to connect with angels and early stage VCs in North America for “user research” conversations to help guide the product development of their startup valuation tool
Desert Farms is raising $3m to start large-scale production, and currently connecting with early-stage investors in FoodTech
For advisors
Ecomz, a digital platform that enables companies and individuals to create their customized e-commerce websites, is looking for a technical advisor familiar with similar platforms (Shopify, Wordpress, GoDaddy, etc). This opportunity can be compensated.
Klangoo, an AI-startup providing Natural Language Processing (NLP) to media and software companies, is looking for an advisor familiar with NLP use cases, and that can explore market fits with Financial Services and Health Care. This opportunity can be compensated.
Band Industries, an AI-powered music tuner and education app, is looking for someone with experience building a SaaS business, preferably a previous founder with digital marketing and go-to-market expertise and a strategist. This opportunity can be compensated.
Desert Farms is also looking for a senior advisor with D2C startup experience, preferably in the food & beverage space, and with knowledge of the FDA approval process. This opportunity can be compensated.
SubsBase is looking for a senior advisor with early-stage startup experience, particularly in leveraging data analytics to optimize the performance of an Enterprise SaaS business. This opportunity can be compensated.
Agel is looking for a senior advisor with FinTech Experience in MENA, and a knowledge of Islamic financing in particular. This opportunity can be compensated.
For founders
Plus.vc invests in early-stage founders (up to Series A) that have a MENA background or connection, but are founding their companies outside of MENA.
If you would like to get involved with any of the opportunities above, please fill out the form below and indicate what opportunity you are interested in the “Reason for Joining” section.
Exciting Announcements From Our Network
Below are a list of updates, wins, and asks emanating from members of the Viaka Network in the “West.”
If you’re a member of our Network and would like to share your own update next week, email info.viaka@gmail.com.
uCast recently launched! uCast is a marketplace and ad management platform that helps Podcasts monetize through ads by connecting them to the right Brands. 🚀🎤
Shout out to Zane & Tim for their help on Viaka over the past few months, and wishing them continued success in their full time roles with Collective & Bain! 🎉
Empire, an independent label, born and grown out of the Bay Area, and is now the largest independent record label in the U.S., with a significant global presence, is hiring for an Operations Coordinator focusing on the WANA+ team. For more information, see the full job description here, or reach out to Jobs@empiredistribution.com 🎧
If you’re a member of our Network and would like to share your own update next week, email info.viaka@gmail.com.
That’s it for this week. Thank you!
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