NFT football card publisher Sorare announces fundraising of $ 680 million. The startup is recruiting talent, setting up in the US and planning to get into other sports.
The French blockchain startup Sorare has not finished surprising! After raising $ 4 million in 2020, she multiplied the stake by ten last February. Already profitable and with 40 million dollars in the bank, it gave even more credibility to its business model.
Since then, the NFT market has steadily increased in value, giving rise to considerable valuations. This dynamic of NFTs also benefits many tokens of players positioned in this sector, particularly in gaming.
Sorare already a European champion startup
Sorare also takes the wave, and at its summit. The French complete a new round of table. Thanks to its Series B, the startup, publisher of a fantasy football game, raises $ 680 million. This is a record for a French company, and even a European one.
The transaction is led by SoftBank, a well-known international investor. Also participating are Atomico, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blisce, D1 Capital, Eurazeo, IVP and Liontree. They join historical investors Benchmark, Accel and Partech.
For the latter, it is already a winning operation since the valuation of Sorare has jumped. This Serie B propels the startup to the rank of a French unicorn with an estimated value of $ 4.3 billion.
But Sorare and his leaders do not intend to stop there. Well established already in the world of football, thanks to agreements with the biggest clubs, the Frenchy is thinking big. In the world of football, he is aiming for the top 20 leagues in the world.
But Sorare also wants to establish itself in other disciplines. His ambition: ” strengthen its position as a benchmark player in the global NFT-based fantasy sports market “. Thanks to its capital, this ambition is within its reach.
A market of several tens of billions of dollars
It also plans to strengthen itself in other areas. First of all in terms of human resources. In a press release, the startup announces that it is recruiting ” world class talent “.
In addition, it is internationalizing by preparing its establishment in the United States. The French are setting out to conquer the world by combining two dynamic markets which are sport and NFTs. Sorare even describes himself as at the crossroads of three gigantic and booming markets.
NFTs, non-fungible tokens, already represent $ 2.5 billion in revenue in 2021. For collectible cards, the market is worth $ 5 billion. Finally, fantasy sports games are promised 48 billion by 2027.
“We seized the immense potential that blockchain and NFTs could bring to clubs, footballers and their supporters by enabling them to forge a stronger bond with each other. We are delighted with the success we have had so far, but this is only the beginning. Our ambition is simple: to create the next world champion of sports entertainment from France ”, declares its CEO and co-founder, Nicolas Julia.
