Huupe, a 'smart' basketball hoop startup, raises its game with $11M
Summary
Basketball can be played just about anywhere and by anyone in the world, thanks to a confluence of factors that lower a lot of barriers: ubiquitous hoops set up in parks, schools, driveways and backyards. Huupe has actually been around since 2015, and it was bootstrapped for years as the pair tinkered on the idea first as a side hustle and then as a primary focus, building prototypes in and outside the proverbial startup garage. Huupe eventually raised its first outside money, a seed round, last year.The story is a little grassroots like basketball itself, which is partly what seemed to attract investors.We love the team; they are super scrappy and hard-working, said George Bousis, the co-founder of Protagonist, which last year announced a $100 million crypto fund but invests in other kinds of tech, too. )Various startups have targeted hardware for different sports, but interestingly, a lot of the activity around basketball has been around gaming and gamification, with startups like Gym Class and Dapper Labs (which makes NBA Top Shot) catching the eye of users and investors.That means there are lots of directions, and not much in the way of competition or precedence, that Huupe might develop if it breaks through in the basketball equipment market. That said, if people are using Huupe as part of their home fitness regime, then there is a merit to the program integrating with other trackers to measure activity.He added that the company is also considering other sports that are not unlike basketball: lacrosse, soccer and hockey are on its list.
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