Sorare raises $680M Series B to create the next sports entertainment giant leveraging NFTs

PARIS, Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sorare, the fantasy football platform, today announces that it has raised $680 million in Series B financing led by Softbank, with participation from Atomico, Bessemer Ventures, D1 Capital, Eurazeo, IVP and LionTree; and existing investors Benchmark, Accel and Headline.

The investment, Europe's biggest ever Series B, gives Sorare a new valuation of $4.3 billion. Sorare will use this investment to rapidly accelerate its mission to build a revolutionary gaming experience that sets a new standard for how fans worldwide connect to the clubs and players they love. Sorare will also expand into other sports so that everyone can celebrate their passion and experience the unique world of NFT fantasy sports.

Sorare operates at the intersection of the fast growing non-fungible token (NFT) market ($2.5bn already sold this year), sports cards ($5bn) and global fantasy sports ($48bn by 2027), creating a multi-billion-dollar total addressable market opportunity¹. Sorare cards are NFTs, meaning each card is unique, scarce, and its ownership is publicly verifiable via the Ethereum blockchain. It is a secure and transparent model of digital ownership. Through collecting, owning and trading these limited edition digital collectibles, Sorare is designing a unique game experience where users can truly own their game and build real world connections.

The company has experienced tremendous growth this year with over $150 million worth of cards traded on the platform since January. The number of monthly active paying Sorare users grew by 34X between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021, with quarterly sales increasing by 51X over the same period. 

Sorare has already established a leading position in the fast-growing football NFT space; the company has over 600,000 registered users on the platform and has licensed players from over 180 football organizations, including Real Madrid, Liverpool, Juventus, the French and German Football Federation. The company's ambition in football is to onboard the top 20 football leagues globally and the top 50 football associations, across not just men's football but also women's football. This next-generation gaming experience allows leagues and clubs to expand their international brand by reaching an untapped audience of fans. Sorare is effectively opening up a new traceable and sustainable revenue stream for professional sports organisations globally.

The funding will be used to rapidly accelerate the company's growth within football while also allowing Sorare to replicate its model in other sports, expand its world-class team by hiring across key roles, and launch ambitious marketing campaigns with partners, athletes, and media companies. Sorare also plans to open its first US office soon and to launch new initiatives to support sports activities for young people and fund other startups in the Sorare ecosystem.

Football players Gerard Piqué, Antoine Griezmann, Rio Ferdinand and César Azpilicueta also participated in the round. In addition to the investment, Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International and COO of SoftBank Group will join Sorare's Board of Directors.

"We are continuously shifting towards digital experiences to celebrate and hone our passions. This is also true for sports, where clubs, players and their passionate fans are looking for new ways to connect with each other online", said Nicolas Julia, CEO and co-founder of Sorare. "Sorare's game is born from our love for football and our expertise in tech. 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. We are thrilled by the success we have seen so far, but this is just the beginning. We believe this is a huge opportunity to create the next sports entertainment giant, bringing Sorare to more football fans and organisations, and to introduce the same proven model to other sports and sports fans worldwide."

"Sorare sits at the intersection of two really exciting industries in digital collectibles and fantasy sports," said Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International and COO of SoftBank Group. "It's evident from Sorare's amazing growth this year alone that football fans around the world have been eagerly waiting for the "game within the game" that Sorare provides. We're pleased to be joining them on this journey and are really excited to see what the company will achieve in its next phase of growth."

About Sorare

Founded in 2018, Sorare was created by football fans for football fans. Through NFTs and its global fantasy football, the company is on a mission to become 'the game within the game'.

Sorare is transforming online sports fandom and giving its community a new way to connect to the clubs and players that they love. The platform had a card sales volume of over $150 million since January 2021 across 170 countries. Based in Paris, Sorare is funded by a world-class team including SoftBank, Benchmark, Accel, Headline, and footballers Gerard Piqué, Antoine Griezmann, Rio Ferdinand and Cesar Azpilicueta.

See all licensed clubs on Sorare here.

Website - Linkedin - Twitter - Discord - Press Kit

About Softbank

The SoftBank Group invests in breakthrough technology to improve the quality of life for people around the world. The SoftBank Group is comprised of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984), an investment holding company that includes stakes in telecommunications, internet services, AI, smart robotics, IoT and clean energy technology providers; the SoftBank Vision Funds, which are investing more than US$135 billion to help extraordinary entrepreneurs transform industries and shape new ones; the $US5 billion SoftBank Latin America Fund, the largest venture fund in that region, and the SB Opportunity Fund, a US$100 million fund dedicated to investing in enterprises founded by entrepreneurs of color in the U.S. To learn more, please visit https://global.softbank.

As of the date of this press release, SoftBank Group Corp. has made capital contributions to allow investments by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 ("SVF 2") in certain portfolio companies. The information included herein is made for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy limited partnership interests in any fund, including SVF 2. SVF 2 has yet to have an external close, and any potential third-party investors shall receive additional information related to any SVF 2 investments prior to closing.

CONTACTS
[email protected]   

NOTES TO EDITORS

A) How the fantasy game works:

In Sorare, users, called Managers, create lineups consisting of 5 players: a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder, a forward, and one other outfield player.

Managers enter these lineups in different tournaments, each with their own entry requirements such as the age of the players or the region their club plays in.

Based on the players' performance in real life games, all entered lineups get ranked against one another in a leaderboard. The higher a Manager's position in a leaderboard, the better the card prizes they earn.

Cards come in different scarcities: Each football player has 1000 Limited cards, 100 Rare cards, 10 Super Rare cards, and a single Unique card. Managers compete against each other to collect these scarce cards on the Sorare Marketplace.

B) Additional statistics

Most followed players:

Kylian Mbappé: 112585 followers
Neymar: 71885 followers
Robert Lewandowski: 65824 followers

Most followed clubs:

Real Madrid: 120,301 followers
Liverpool: 88,394 followers
Juventus: 68,058 followers

^[1]  Source Reuters : https://www.reuters.com/technology/nft-sales-volume-surges-25-bln-2021-first-half-2021-07-05/

SOURCE Sorare