Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank led a $680m series B round today for Sorare, the France-headquartered creator of a fantasy football game focused on non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Atomico, Bessemer Ventures, D1 Capital, Eurazeo, IVP, Liontree, Benchmark, Accel and Partech also participated in the round along with private investors Alexis Ohanian, Gerard Piqué, Rio Ferdinand, Antoine Griezmann and César Azpilicueta.
Sorare’s online platform hosts a fantasy game where players can trade NFTs of certain players with each other in order to improve their teams and potentially win cash prizes. It has more than 600,000 registered users and has secured licences for some 180 clubs and 6,000 footballers.
Nicolas Julia, Sorare’s founder and chief executive, said the round is the largest series B yet closed by a company based in Europe, in addition to being the largest yet raised by a French technology developer.
The funding was raised at a $4.3bn valuation according to TechCrunch, and it will be allocated to marketing and recruitment as well as the extension of the company’s partnerships. It is preparing to add new sports next year.
Benchmark had previously led Sorare’s $50m series A round in February this year, participating alongside Accel and angel investors including Rio Ferdinand, Antoine Griezmann, Oliver Bierhoff, Alexis Ohanian and Gary Vaynerchuck.
The startup’s seed round closed at approximately $8.9m in December 2020, the cash being supplied by ConsenSys Ventures, a subsidiary of blockchain technology provider ConsenSys, in addition to Partech, Cassius Family, Seedcamp, Kima Ventures, E.ventures, Fabric Ventures, Semantic Ventures, Cygni Capital and various individuals.
