:format(jpg):watermark(cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/EF665FJJCNGHFFHRRMWR57UKMI.png,0,30,0)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/7JH67WGWRFFSLBA3FYOF6KXL54.jpg "Startup Sorare raised 680 million euros, a record in France")
With a valuation of $4.3 billion (€3.7 billion), the young Parisian company – founded in 2018 – has already taken first place in France’s Unicorn (unlisted companies worth more than a billion).
“Our ambition is to create a world-leading entertainment group in the world of sports”Nicholas Julia, co-founder of the company, told AFP.
“This amount allows us to focus on our product until a potential IPO in a few years.”, he added.
The operation is led by the Japanese conglomerate Softbank, a maneuver in the previous record dating back to May 2021, which allowed web specialist ContentSquare to raise $ 500 million.
The roundtable also includes Atomico, Bessemer Ventures, Blisce, D1 Capital, Eurazeo, IVP and Liontree funds, as well as historical investors (Benchmark, Accel and Parttech), according to a press release published Tuesday. The latter gave 40 million euros to the company during its first fundraising campaign in March.
Sorari has never announced yet, but has relied on the fame of some of his investors, including players Gerard Pique, Rio Ferdinand, Antoine Griezmann and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Nicolas Giulia told AFP that the company’s co-founders still constituted the majority.
Sorare is at the crossroads of two highly stimulating sectors: digital collectibles and ‘fantasy sports’.(Virtual sports, editor’s note),” SoftBank CEO Marcelo Clore explained, citing the press release.
Cards worth several million euros
In this game, which uses blockchain technology, users can buy and sell images of players whose value depends on performance in real matches.
Sorare claims that there are over 250,000 active players, including between 30,000 and 40,000 who have an NFT-shaped player card, meaning their rarity is guaranteed.
Cash exchanges are made in Ether, which is a cryptocurrency. On the site, amounts are well specified in euros, up to several million for more expensive cards, virtual but very speculative goods.
New users can try the game with unlimited free cards.
With this investment, Sorare wants to expand internationally (the company is currently opening an office in the US), recruit specialists to grow its user base, and expand into new sports.
From 30 employees today, it is expected to rise to 200 next year.
It must also forge new partnerships with clubs and leagues (as it recently announced with LaLiga in Spain), which will restore proceeds to use their brand and require a guaranteed minimum income.
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