Key Takeaways
- NBA Launchpad announces five startups for 2026, with one product heading directly to youth basketball testing
- Swish Basket will pilot its camera and lidar-based shooting technology at NBA-operated international basketball schools
- Three startups focus on basketball performance; two address league business priorities
- Seven alumni from the program’s first four years have received funding from NBA Investments
- Six-month pilots will culminate in Demo Day presentations at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas
Program Enters Year Five With Broadened Focus
NBA Launchpad has selected five startups for its fifth cohort, continuing the league’s push to identify emerging technologies across basketball performance and business operations.
The 2026 class includes Atlas, a brain-sensing wearable company; Cred, a sponsorship intelligence platform; Diddo, a retail integration API; Peripheral Labs, a spatial intelligence firm; and Swish Basket, a shooting analytics company using cameras and lidar sensors.
Each startup will participate in a six-month pilot with various NBA properties before presenting at a final Demo Day during NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
Youth Basketball Gets Direct Testing Ground
Swish Basket, based in Tel Aviv, offers the most direct youth sports application in this year’s cohort. The company uses cameras and lidar sensors to track shooting success and form while providing AI-powered training and gaming features.
Unlike similar tracking apps that require players to set up their own smartphones, Swish Basket uses permanent installations to remove that friction and capture more detailed metrics. The product will be tested at NBA owned-and-operated international basketball schools.
Youth Basketball remains one of the program’s five stated priority areas, alongside Future of Officiating, Player Health & Wellbeing, Future of Media, and Fan Connection.
From Specific Challenges to Founder-First Selection
Tom Ryan, NBA SVP and Head of Basketball R&D, explained how the selection process has evolved since the program launched.
“In the first three years of Launchpad, we were really focused on putting out specific, almost DARPA-type of challenges, and then finding companies that map directly to those,” Ryan told Sports Business Journal. “Where we are in year four and five is just broadening up and always staying true to our big five priority areas around the game and our business, and then really just focusing on finding world-class founders and making sure that the problem they’re solving is a high-risk, high-reward type of bet.”
The shift reflects a maturation of the program from narrow technical briefs to a wider aperture for promising founders working on relevant problems.
Alumni Continue Landing League and Team Deals
NBA Launchpad alumni have maintained momentum after graduating from the program. Seven startups from the first four cohorts have received funding from NBA Investments.
Several have gone on to work directly with NBA teams, including insole sensor provider Plantiga, MRI-based muscle scan company Springbok Analytics, and broadcast tracking data supplier SkillCorner. Others have collaborated with the league on specific projects, such as nVenue for micro-betting markets and SportIQ, whose ball sensor is being piloted for automated officiating.
What the Fifth Cohort Signals for Youth Sports Tech
The inclusion of Swish Basket and its deployment to international basketball schools offers a window into how the NBA views youth basketball development technology. Products that reduce friction for young players while delivering actionable training data align with broader industry interest in making skill development more accessible and measurable.
For youth sports operators and technology providers, NBA Launchpad remains one of the clearest signals of where professional leagues see value in emerging products.
via: SBJ
photo: Courtesy of the NBA
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