NBA Launchpad is now accepting applications for the fifth cohort of the league’s innovation-focused program in which companies pilot their technologies for six months with NBA and WNBA properties. Results are then shared during Demo Day presentations at NBA Summer League.
This year’s process includes five of the same priority areas as last year, with three future-focused tracks seeking to impact the sport itself (Officiating, Youth Basketball, Player Health & Wellbeing) and two targeting the business (Media, Fan Connection). A sixth category last season, NBA Impact, has been paused as the league focuses on the other areas deemed more critical right now.
The first four Launchpad cohorts have included 22 companies from eight countries, which collectively account for more than 60 deals with an NBA or W franchise and eight that have worked directly with a league property. The program seeks to steer promising technologies to develop basketball-specific products.
“The primary KPI that we’ve been thinking about is just how many of the companies that have come through have commercial deals with NBA or WNBA teams or the league,” Tom Ryan, the NBA’s SVP overseeing technology initiatives, told SBJ. “The core reason that we started Launchpad is entirely strategic. We’re not doing this for financial returns or else we would design it very differently. And it’s really just, are these companies making an impact across the NBA and the broader basketball ecosystem?”
Among the graduates from the past season’s NBA Launchpad are SportIQ, which played a role in on-court testing of automated officiating products during Summer League, and Somnee, a sleep wearable that raised $10M in June that included participation from the owners of the Orlando Magic. The league itself has invested in seven of its Launchpad graduates.
“If I were an entrepreneur or an investor thinking about, is it worth my while to join this?” Ryan said. “I think that’s probably the clearest ROI for someone: does it lead to a deal in basketball? And then once you have that deal, it obviously really helps with the halo effect across other sports and other industries.”
