The NBA is expanding its Launchpad startup program to Asia as part of a multiyear commitment to source new innovations from that continent. The announcement was made at the NBA x Citi Investor Summit 2026 in Singapore.
Launchpad is currently supporting its fifth cohort of startups that engage in pilots with NBA properties. That program annually attracts hundreds of applicants for what’s typically five or six slots. To date, all the accepted companies have been headquartered in North America or Europe, but the league hopes to source promising ideas from the growing Asia tech ecosystem as well.
“The thesis here is it’s obviously going to be an economic juggernaut over the next however many years across all industries,” NBA SVP and Head of Basketball R&D Tom Ryan told SBJ. “We haven’t seen a lot in sports tech or adjacent fields that are relevant to the NBA. We really wanted to play a more active role and give people a clear on-ramp of how to work in basketball and sports.”
Ryan added that the new Asian offshoot of Launchpad will run in parallel to the legacy program, with applications opening in the fall, selections announced in January and projects culminating in the summer, most likely with the companies joining altogether for the demo day pitch session at NBA Summer League.
Video-submission and application management platform Pitchtape will support the selection process, which will invite companies across similar categories, such as player health and wellness, AI-driven content production, youth basketball development and the future of basketball in Asia. Ryan said there is no set quota for selections, but two is the most likely number. He added that one macroeconomic trend helping motivate this expansion is that advanced development and manufacture of hardware and robotics engineering in Asia.
NBA Asia will operate the new Launchpad branch, with shared resources from the main league office. The marketing and investment deals will be structured similarly as with prior Launchpad participants.
One notable difference with the Asian track is that the league owns and operates courts and programs on that continent through its officially licensed NBA Hoop Park network of facilities. That will make integration of pilots a seamless process.
