A group of childhood friends from Milwaukee took their love of playing basketball and turned it into an international company. Founded in 2019, Milwaukee-based sports technology startup huupe has created what it calls the world’s first smart basketball hoop. Each huupe not only allows users to play against each other remotely, but also offers features such as streaming and shot tracking. Brothers Paul and Frankie Anton and childhood friend Lis Said are the masterminds of huupe. The Anton brothers play basketball virtually through Snapchat with their family and friends. Each participant records their shot and sends it to each other. This allows players to participate from all over the world. “That was really the origin of the idea, to be able to play basketball against each other from anywhere in the world,” said Paul Anton. His first thought was that it would make sense to make an app that would let you play basketball through virtual reality glasses. Said was the one who first proposed the idea of transferring the technical aspects of the game to a physical basketball goal. Said has experience as a startup founder, having previously developed a luxury ride-sharing app and co-founded an artificial intelligence recruiting startup in California. “I have good experience in technology and building technology teams, so I brought that experience,” Said said. It took the company five years to bring its flagship product, huupe, to market. A small team of engineers built the first huupe prototype in-house. “Before we started this, we had no idea how to make a computer,” Anton said. “We just had the passion to figure it out. Inside the huupe is a complete computer. It’s the first one we’ve ever built.” According to Anton, huupe and the company’s patented technology have no real competitors. So the company has been able to rely on in-person demonstrations and social media to grow its following organically. Huupe has also attracted attention from NBA players, including Atlanta Hawks’ Dyson Daniella and Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro. Professional players often buy the huupe Pro, which is best for home and outdoor courts. “We’re doing things that haven’t been done before, and that’s what’s really fueling our growth,” Said said. Anton said Huupe has nearly quadrupled in size every year since it was founded. The startup has received orders from more than 30 countries, and to date, Huupe has raised $11 million in funding. “We now have customers all over the world,” Anton said. Huupe continues to bring new products to market, and recently launched a mini version of its smart basketball hoop. The Huupe Mini has all the features of the full-size product, but can be placed in an easily accessible location, such as a bedroom or living room. “We grew up playing with mini hoops ourselves, and we’ve created the world’s first digital version,” Anton said. “It really brings people together. You can see each other on the leaderboard.” Huupe’s product lineup ranges in price from $599 to $9,995. One of the startup’s biggest goals is to achieve profitability, but the Huupe brand may soon branch out into new sports, such as soccer. “We have about five soccer products in the works right now,” Saeed says, “and we’ll continue to make cool products.”
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