A group of childhood friends from Milwaukee has taken a love for playing basketball and turned it into an international company.
Brothers Paul and Frankie Anton, along with childhood friend Lyth Saeed, are the masterminds behind huupe, a Milwaukee-based sports technology startup that has created what it calls the world’s first smart basketball hoop. The product allows users to play against one another remotely while also offering features like streaming and shot tracking.
The Anton brothers, along with family and friends, used to play basketball virtually via Snapchat. Participants would record videos of themselves taking a shot and send them between one another, allowing players to participate globally.
“That was really the genesis of the idea, to be able to play basketball against one another from all parts of the world,” said Paul Anton.
His first thought was it would make sense to create an app that could be used to play basketball through virtual reality glasses. Saeed first pitched the idea of taking the technical aspect of the game and transitioning it into a physical basketball hoop.
Saeed has experience as a startup founder, previously creating a luxury rideshare app and co-founding an artificial intelligence recruitment startup in California.
“I have good experience in tech and building out tech teams, so that’s the experience I brought to the table,” said Saeed.
huupe was founded in 2019. It took the company five years to bring its flagship product to market. A small team of engineers built the first huupe prototype in-house.
“We had no idea how to build a computer before we started this,” said Anton. “We were just passionate and figured it out. Inside the huupe is a whole computer – the first of its kind that we built.”
There are no true competitors to huupe and the company’s patented technology, said Anton. This has allowed the company to rely on in-person demonstrations and social media to grow its following organically.
huupe has even garnered the attention of several NBA players including Thaddeus Young and Trevor Booker. Professionals often opt to buy a huupe PRO, which is ideal for homes or outdoor courts.
“We’re really doing something that just hasn’t been done before, and that’s what is really spurring our growth,” said Saeed.
huupe has nearly quadrupled in size every year of its existence, according to Anton. The startup has orders in more than 30 countries. To date, huupe has raised $11 million in funding.
“We have clients all over the world now,” said Anton.
huupe continues to bring new products to market, recently launching a mini version of its smart basketball hoop. The huupe mini has all the features of a full-size product but can be placed in easily accessible places like a bedroom or an office.
Among the startup’s biggest goals is achieving profitability, but the huupe brand could soon be expanding into new sports, like soccer.
“We have about five products in the pipeline, one is a soccer product,” said Saeed. “We’re just going to keep cranking out cool things.”
Leadership: Paul Anton, Frankie Anton and Lyth Saeed
Headquarters: Milwaukee
Website:
huupe.com
What it does: Created a ‘smart’ basketball hoop
Founded: 2019
Employees: Approximately 20
Next goals: Achieve profitability
Fundraising: $11 million
