Huupe, a California company, says it wants to use its technology to make every basketball hoop in the world "smart".
The sports start-up, which offers several products including AI-using basketball hoops, says that its Huupe Arena Upgrade Kit fills an important gap in the market.
"It's our biggest launch since the Huupe Mini 1," Huupe chief executive Paul Anton told The National of the $699 Arena Upgrade Kit, which consists of an attachable sensor hub and lights that connect to most backboards.
The attachable device syncs with smartphones and allows players to automatically track shots, measure performance, and play against other users around the world.
"We believe it is the biggest game-changer in the world of basketball hoops," Mr Anton continued, adding that it "enables every existing hoop to remain, while offering a simple smart upgrade".
The company's chief executive said Huupe has introduced the Arena Portable, which starts at $995.
The Arena Portable is described as a complete, full-size but movable basketball hoop that has all the AI and technology features on the Huupe basketball software platform.
This is Huupe's latest offering in a deep bench of products since June, when it introduced the Arena, which is available at a base price of $2,995.
The Arena provides players with rim impact charts, AI-powered shot form analysis, three-point percentages, field goal stats and interactive shot charts.
Huupe was founded in 2015 by Mr Anton and Lyth Saeed, both originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and both insatiable basketball fans.
It took several years to co-ordinate the right technology, tools and financing for their vision of creating a better hoop.
In 2022, the company introduced the world's first smart basketball hoop, Huupe Pro, which uses a display and apps to enhance the basketball experience.
Two years later, Huupe introduced a smaller version of the product, Huupe Mini, for use in the home.
Huupe Mini allows users to play with others around the world and can also be used, through an HDMI port and built-in Wi‑Fi, to connect to streaming services such as YouTube or Netflix.
The Mini, like the Pro, can track and analyse shooting performances through the use of advanced radar as well as light detection and ranging (lidar) technology.
Huupe announced in 2025 that retired NBA all-star Tracy McGrady would be joining in the capacity of chief innovation officer, and that hall-of-famer Vince Carter would be coming on board as a strategic adviser.
Mr Anton is setting ambitious goals for the company's next steps.
"Next for Huupe is growing the Upgrade Kit to one million units sold," he said.
"There are over 100 million basketball hoops that exist in the world today."
According to a Future Data Stats market report, in 2024 the global basketball hoop market "was valued at $2 billion" and is projected to expand to $3.5 billion by 2032.
