Ethereum NFT Game Sorare Fantasy Soccer Raised $680 Million

Ethereum NFT game Sorare fantasy soccer just raised $680 million and it is now valued at $4.3 billion while launching a US office so let’s read more today in our latest Ethereum news.

The Ethereum NFT game Sorare fantasy soccer raised $680 million and the french startup now plans to expand into other sports as well as to onboard women’s soccer teams and US office. Sorare is an Ethereum-based fantasy soccer game based on NFT trading cards and grew dramatically in 2021 with a rising base and huge trading volume not to mention the new licensed teams in the mix. Today, however, the startup is using the momentum with the announcement of a new funding round.

The $680 million Series B round values the company at $4.3 billion after a $50 million Series A round which was announced back in February and the new series was led by Japanese tech and investment conglomerate SoftBank that has a number of crypto industry dealings through SBI holdings financial services division. Sorare is focused on soccer with players from more than 175 licensed clubs like FC Barcelona, Juventus FC, and Paris Saint Germain FC as some of the most popular. Nicolas Julia, the co-founder and CEO of Sorare said that this week the company plans to expand into other sports and it will open a US-based office in the upcoming months to help “continue to grow with fans and sports leagues.” He continued:

“We have ambitious plans to keep growing Sorare into a sports entertainment giant. The new funding will be used to help us continue to grow a world-class team, expand to new leagues and new sports, and keep improving our experience for users, including shipping a mobile app.”

Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shot is similar to Sorare, built around NFTs and based on professional athletes. An NFT acts like a deed of ownership to a scarce digital item so in the case of Sorare, it’s a digital trading card that can be purchased and resold with each available in limited quantity. One NFT card can even reach $290,000. Unlike Top Shot, however, Sorare has an ongoing game component and is similar to other fantasy sports in that you can choose your top players each week as well as the leagues with other users. Sorare also has close ties with Ubisoft as it took the accelerator program this year.