Sorare, a marketplace of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) focused on soccer, is about to announce its major investment round led by SoftBank, Business Insider has learned. The French startup is close to the $530 million mark at a valuation of $3.8 billion. According to sources familiar with the matter, European fund Atomico, French funds Eurazeo and Blisce are also expected to participate.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.
Sorare was founded in 2018. In February this year, the Paris-based startup raised a $50 million Series A round led by Benchmark Capital alongside Accel, Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian and Barcelona and France soccer star Antoine Griezmann.
Later in April, the startup signed a licensing agreement with the Spanish soccer team Betis to bring the benefits of blockchain fantasy gaming to soccer fans. On Sorare, players are represented by limited edition digital collectibles: player cards. Blockchain technology is used to guarantee the authenticity, provenance and digital scarcity of the collectibles.
For every player and every season, Sorare issues one Unique player card, ten Super Rare player cards, 100 Rare player cards. Every week, managers compose teams of 5 player cards to compete in different fantasy soccer leagues to earn rewards and unlock achievements.
Access more than 50 of the world's financial markets directly from your EXANTE account – including NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange.