How Huupe Is Transforming the At-Home Basketball Game With a Smart Basketball Hoop

This article was produced in partnership with Thomas Herd

Basketball hoops have been a staple of American driveways for decades. From in-ground hoops, to portable or wall-mounted hoops, traditional basketball hoops with tempered glass, acrylic, plastic and even wooden backboards have been fixtures in the American driveway for generations. Fast forward to 2022, and basketball hoops are starting to look a bit different than how we typically remember them.

A bright young company called Huupe is betting that the future of basketball hoops will include a TV screen in the backboard. Huupe has innovated the basketball hoop in the traditional way to create a smart basketball hoop that will make the American driveway look a bit different than it did before.

With a high definition smart screen that doubles as a backboard, Huupe is the latest technology that is driving basketball forward. The hoop features a sleek, modern design that is also weatherproof and it offers a variety of activities for users. Players can choose from curated workouts from NBA trainers, or they can play against their friends, even from opposite ends of the country. After all, that is the very concept that inspired Huupe’s founders to start the company.

Lifelong friends Paul Anton and Lyth Saeed grew up together in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but moved across the country at the age of 18 to attend different colleges. The pair would play basketball together, often the popular game “HORSE,” through snapchat — recording shots from their phones and sending them back and forth. This sparked their idea for Huupe, which Anton and Saeed joined forces to create after years of each working in various tech-focused roles.

Co-founders Anton and Saeed spent three years perfecting the hardware and software for Huupe with their Chief Technology Officer, Dan Hayes, and Head of Manufacturing, Adam Jaber. After years of building and iterating, the group finally arrived at the industry disrupting smart hoop that incorporates machine learning and computer vision to capture and analyze a player’s data on the court. In addition to the advanced technology and analytical capabilities, the founders are especially proud of Huupe’s fun and playful UX that includes shooting contests and leaderboards, along with many other gamified features.

Anton and Saeed bring unique backgrounds to build the world’s most innovative basketball hoop. After graduating college, Anton built Real Shot, an augmented reality application that used various technologies such as machine learning and computer vision — both of which are key components of Huupe – to allow for physical remote sport play. At the same time, Saeed spent time helping several marketplace and artificial intelligence startups grow their businesses. Together, these two co-founders are using their backgrounds to innovate with Huupe.

For more updates on Huupe, you can visit their website and follow their Instagram.

For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!