![]() The platform is already host to NFTs from some of Europe’s most popular teams, including Bayern Munich, Juventus, Real Madrid and Liverpool. ![]() Sorare raised a $50 million Series A last February, led by venture capital firm Benchmark. companies are more about collectibility, so no, I’m not worried about them competing in the European market.” “We are the only ones that have bridged the gap between the game, collectibility and utility over the lifetime of sports NFTs,” Thibaut told CoinDesk in an interview. Thibaut Predhomme, head of operations at Sorare, is not worried about having to compete on their own turf. companies will look to take market share of the lucrative European soccer NFT space, and vice versa. The company is eyeing basketball, American football and baseball as the next targets for its current model, a representative told CoinDesk in an interview.Īs the global sports NFT market continues to mature, U.S. The Paris-based company says it will use the new funds to accelerate growth and venture outside the touch lines of soccer collectibles.ĬEO Nicolas Julia said in a press release he sees an opportunity to “introduce the same proven model to other sports and sports fans worldwide” and will be opening a U.S. Sorare says it’s traded over $150 million worth of digital cards on its platform since January and currently has over 600,000 registered users.įrom Q2 2020 to Q2 2021, the company saw its sales increase 54x from the previous year. The funding round values the company at $4.3 billion. The round’s lead investors include SoftBank Vision Fund, LionTree, Bessemer Ventures, IVP, Hillhouse and Atomico. The European fantasy soccer and digital collectible platform announced a $680 million Series B raise on Tuesday, the largest ever in the non-fungible token (NFT) space. Other investors in Sorare’s raise include venture capital firms Accel and Bessemer Ventures as well as footballers Pique, Ferdinand, France’s Antoine Griezmann and Spain’s Cesar Azpilicueta.Sorare is taking on the future of sports NFTs with record-setting support. ![]() This is not SoftBank’s first foray into NFTs: it also led investment in the NFT marketplace OpenSea in July and invested in the decentralised finance platform Juggernaut in March. SoftBank’s Latin America fund also contributed, which Mr Combes said was because SoftBank can use its relationships with US and Latin American football leagues and its investment in broadcaster Televisa-Univision, to increase Sorare’s user base there. The fundraising round was SoftBank’s first time investing in Sorare, via its SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The most expensive unique card is of Cristiano Ronaldo, which was bought for 245,072 euros (S$388,482) on March 13. Since January 2021, there have been US$150 million of sales on Sorare, which accepts payments via credit card and the cryptocurrency ether. “We believe this is a huge opportunity to create the next sports entertainment giant.” “We saw the immense potential that blockchain and NFTs brought to unlock a new way for football clubs, footballers and their fans to experience a deeper connection with each other,” said Nicolas Julia, CEO and co-founder of Sorare. ![]() It plans to open an office in the United States and expand into sports other than football. Sorare is the largest sports-based NFT platform by sales volume, according to, a website which tracks NFT market data. Besides SoftBank, other participants in the investment include Atomico, Bessemer Ventures, D1 Capital Eurazeo, IVP, and Liontree as well as previous investors Benchmark, Accel and Headline.Softbank has been a relatively late investor in the blockchain sphere, but in the last three months it has placed some big bets. “This evolution from physical assets to digital assets is very powerful, and creates a lot of exciting potential business models.” “We think NFTs represent a new paradigm in the collectability, usability and engagement with assets,” Michel Combes, president of SoftBank Group International, said in emailed comments. The market for NFTs has seen explosive growth in 2021, with collectible and sports-related the most popular types of token. The cards are traded in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a kind of crypto asset which records the ownership status of digital goods on the blockchain. Paris-based Sorare said the investment valued the company at US$4.3 billion.įounded in 2018, Sorare is an online game where players buy officially licensed cards representing football players and build teams which play against each other, with the outcome based on the players’ performance in real-life games. Blockchain-based fantasy football game Sorare has raised US$680 million in a funding round led by SoftBank, with players including ex-England international Rio Ferdinand and Spain’s Gerard Pique also investing, the company said on Tuesday.
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