From 700+ Dreams to Five Winning Startups: ALX Ventures Champions Africa’s Boldest Innovators

Reborn (Morocco), Fitclan (Egypt), Athlon Technology (Egypt), Atsur (Nigeria), and Songdis (Nigeria) are the 2025 winners of the NBA Africa Triple Double Accelerator, earning cash prizes, incubation opportunities, and exclusive access to OpenAI expertise.

Bold Ventures, One Vision: Africa's Future in Action

When more than 700 African entrepreneurs applied to the accelerator, they were not just submitting applications, they were declaring their readiness to build the future.

On December 5 at Carnegie Mellon University Africa in Kigali, that future came into focus. The top five startups were celebrated for their innovative solutions across sports, creative tech, and digital industries, reflecting the growing pipeline of African founders shaping Africa’s economic future.

Beyond the Pitch: Building Investment-Ready Founders

The NBA Africa Triple Double Accelerator, operated by ALX Ventures in partnership with NBA Africa, ServiceNow, OpenAI, and Carnegie Mellon University Africa, is more than a competition. It is a catalyst for systemic change across Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

Over three months, ten finalists from Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa completed an intensive acceleration program, gaining mentorship, strategic guidance, and the skills to scale their ventures across Africa and globally.

This year’s cohort reflects the determination, creativity, and global competitiveness of Africa’s next generation of builders,” said Fred Swaniker, Founder and CEO of ALX. “Through the accelerator, the entrepreneurs identified new opportunities for expansion and built the confidence, clarity, and community required to scale. The impact goes far beyond the finalists. The hundreds of applicants represent a movement of entrepreneurs who are reshaping Africa’s economic future. When founders succeed, they hire, they inspire, and they strengthen the ecosystem. This is how sustainable entrepreneurial growth is built across the continent”.

The Winners: Innovation Across Sports and Creative Tech

1st Place: Reborn (Morocco)
RebornSportsTech.com provides performance indicators that give athletes deep insights into their physical condition and on-field performance. Prize: $25,000 cash, CMU Africa incubation, $10,000 in API credits, and an immersion day with OpenAI engineers.

2nd Place: Fitclan (Egypt)
Fitclan.co is a digital fitness hub offering flexible subscriptions for individuals and corporate clients. Prize: $15,000 cash, CMU Africa incubation, $10,000 API credits, and OpenAI immersion.

3rd Place: Athlon Technology (Egypt)
AthlonTechnology.com delivers mobile AI video analysis for amateur and budget-constrained sports teams. Prize: $5,000 cash, CMU Africa incubation, $10,000 API credits, and OpenAI immersion.

4th Place: Atsur (Nigeria)
Atsur.art uses blockchain technology to promote investment in African art and support artists and communities. Prize: $2,500 cash and CMU Africa incubation.

5th Place: Songdis (Nigeria)
Songdis.com provides digital distribution and services for African independent artists and labels. Prize: $2,500 cash and CMU Africa incubation.

A Movement of 700+ Entrepreneurs

While ten finalists took the stage at CMU Africa, the true impact lies with the 700+ applicants. Each represents a founder with a vision, a problem worth solving, and the conviction to build scalable solutions.

The accelerator activates a continent-wide community of innovators who are part of something larger. This movement is reshaping Africa’s economic future, one venture at a time.

These entrepreneurs span Africa’s most dynamic sectors: sports technology, creative industries, digital platforms, health and wellness, and data and performance analytics. Their ventures create jobs, fuel economic resilience, and solve challenges unique to African markets.

Strategic Partnerships Powering Sustainable Growth

The accelerator, powered by a shared vision between ALX Ventures, NBA Africa, ServiceNow, OpenAI, and CMU Africa, brings together expertise in sports, technology, entrepreneurship, community building, and academic excellence to provide holistic support for startup founders.

ALX Ventures delivers proven acceleration methodology, NBA Africa provides global sports industry networks, ServiceNow offers enterprise technology insights, OpenAI enables cutting-edge AI integration, and CMU Africa extends world-class research and long-term incubation infrastructure. Together, these partners are building the infrastructure for Africa's entrepreneurial future in an AI-driven world.

The Ripple Effect: When Founders Win, Ecosystems Grow

The accelerator is now in its second year, and its impact extends far beyond the winners. Alumni from the inaugural cohort are raising capital, hiring talent, entering new markets, and mentoring emerging founders.

When one founder succeeds, they build more than a company. They strengthen an ecosystem. Transformed founders become employers, community builders, and inspiration for thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Future is Being Built Right Now
Africa’s youth population is projected to double by 2050, creating unprecedented opportunity and an urgent need for job creation. Traditional employment pathways cannot absorb this growth. The future belongs to entrepreneurs who create new markets, industries, and opportunities where none existed before.

Programs like the NBA Africa Triple Double Accelerator are building the infrastructure, networks, and confidence to reshape Africa’s relationship with entrepreneurship. This is how movements are born: through consistent investment in people, ideas, and the connective tissue that turns isolated ventures into thriving ecosystems.

Calling Africa’s Next Wave of Innovators
If you are an African entrepreneur building something bold, solving problems that matter, creating value in new ways, or exploring ideas overlooked by traditional pathways, this is your invitation.

The NBA Africa Triple Double Accelerator will return, seeking founders with the ambition, resilience, and global imagination that defined this year’s cohort.

ALX Ventures supports African entrepreneurs year-round with immersive programs that turn ideas into revenue-generating ventures capable of attracting investment and thriving in the digital economy.

The question is not whether Africa’s entrepreneurial future is bright. It is whether you will be part of building it. Somewhere in Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo, Johannesburg, or Casablanca, the next game-changing venture is taking shape. The next founder who will hire hundreds, serve millions, and inspire thousands is getting started. Will it be you?.