Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

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

22/09/2021

The round is led by SoftBank, with participation from Atomico, Bessemer Ventures, D1 Capital, Eurazeo, IVP and Liontree as well as existing investors including Benchmark, Accel, Headline and high-profile business angels.

Sorare plans to sign up the top 20 football leagues and expand into other sports to strengthen its position as the leading player in NFT-based fantasy sports. The company is hiring a world-class team and will open an US office to fuel its growth.

The investment, Europe's biggest ever Series B, gives Sorare a new valuation of $4.3 billion.

Paris, France Sept. 21, 2021 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 Piqu , Antoine Griezmann, Rio Ferdinand and C sar 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 Piqu , Antoine Griezmann, Rio Ferdinand and Cesar Azpilicueta.

See all licensed clubs on Sorare here.

Website Linkedin Twitter Discord Press Kit

Read more about why we invested in our blog.
LINK: https://www.ivp.com/news/press-release/sorare-raises-680m-series-b-to-...
See more stories from ivp

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

23/08/2025

Imagine Communications Introduces SNP-XS at IBC2025

At IBC2025 (12-15 September, RAI Amsterdam, stand 1.B73), Imagine Communications is expanding its Selenio Network Processor (SNP) line with the launch of SNP-X...

23/08/2025

TSL Drives Interoperability at IBC2025

At IBC2025, TSL will introduce a series of workflow-driven enhancements across its control, audio monitoring, and power distribution solutions, engineered for i...

23/08/2025

Growing demand for the Lightware Taurus Smart Dock as hyb...

Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - Lightware, industry leaders in signal management, have seen growing demand for their Taurus Smart Dock since its launch in Janu...

23/08/2025

Wurl Appoints New CEO

PALO ALTO, Calif. The streaming technology solutions provider Wurl has named Dave Bernath as its new chief executive officer....

23/08/2025

Newsmax CEO Blasts Efforts to End Ownership Caps

WASHINGTON Newsmax founder and CEO Christopher Ruddy has come out against reducing broadcast ownership caps in a filing with the Federal Communications Commissi...

23/08/2025

$2.2 Million Donation Fuels Next Phase of Berklee Bridge

$2.2 Million Donation Fuels Next Phase of Berklee Bridge The anonymous gift will amplify the impact of the student success initiative built to support student...

22/08/2025

Utah Scientific Releases NBOSS Software-Based NMOS Control Solution for Hybrid SDI/IP Workflows

Utah Scientific Releases NBOSS Software-Based NMOS Control Solution for Hybrid S...

22/08/2025

Lurker Simmers With Tension As Idol Worship Turned Sour

(L-R) Writer-director Alex Russell, Th odore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, and Havana Rose Liu on stage for the premiere of Lurker at Eccles Theater in Park City....

22/08/2025

Spotify and Stray Kids Celebrate KARMA With An Immersive Spotify STAYdium Experience

The wait is over: Stray Kids return with their fourth full-length album, KARMA. ...

22/08/2025

Spotify and Royel Otis Team Up on a Special hickey' Album Release Show for Top Fans

With their new album, hickey, out now, Aussie indie darlings Royel Otis decided ...

22/08/2025

Studio Upgrade: MixedbyEL on Moving to the Apogee Symphony Studio

We recently spoke with MixedbyEL, a rising force in the world of audio engineering, celebrated for his dynamic work in rap, R&B, and pop. From his early days re...

22/08/2025

BitFire Launches Live Master Control in the Cloud

BitFire (bitfire.tv), a leader in software-defined live production and IP transmission, today announced the addition of cloud-based live master control capabili...

22/08/2025

Utah Scientific Releases NBOSS Software-Based NMOS Contro...

Utah Scientific today announced NBOSS, a new software-based control solution designed to streamline the management of NMOS-compliant devices in hybrid SDI/IP en...

22/08/2025

Amagi 15th Global FAST report reveals how live content is...

Amagi, a cloud-based SaaS technology solutions provider for broadcast and streaming TV, today announced the release of its 15th Global FAST Report, offering ins...

22/08/2025

Hitomi MatchBox Technology Deployed by ORF for Major SMPT...

Hitomi Broadcast, the market leader in audio/video alignment and latency solutions, announces that ORF ( sterreichischer Rundfunk), Austria s national public br...

22/08/2025

This Berklee Program Turns Class Projects into Career Breakthroughs

This Berklee Program Turns Class Projects into Career Breakthroughs Experiential Design Lab students take on creative briefs from Red Bull, Disney, and more, ...

22/08/2025

Report: FAST Channels Need More Live Content to Succeed

NEW YORK Although FAST channels are becoming ever more omnipresent in the streaming universe, the vast majority of them will need to start providing more live c...

22/08/2025

Magnite, Acxiom Announce Integration

NEW YORK Independent sell-side advertising company Magnite today announced an integration with Acxiom, the connected data and technology foundation of global ad...

22/08/2025

Six Scripps Channels Launch on Peacock

CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced that six of its channels are now streaming as part of Peacock's 24/7 channel offering and are available to...

22/08/2025

ESPN Launches ESPN Unlimited Streaming App

ESPN launched today its new direct-to-consumer streaming service and a set of new features on an enhanced ESPN App, making ESPN's full suite of 12 networks ...

22/08/2025

FCC Deletes More Rules

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission is once again pressing the delete button as part of its Delete, Delete, Delete regulatory initiative to remov...

22/08/2025

Solid State Logic to Introduce IP-Native Stagebox at IBC2025

OXFORD, U.K. Solid State Logic will unveil its System T plug-and-play IP-native MPL 16-8 stagebox offering cost-effective connectivity for touring flypack and i...

22/08/2025

Fox Officially Launches Fox One

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corporation has officially launched Fox One, a new streaming service that brings together the full portfolio of Foxs sports, news a...

22/08/2025

Inside NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra: The Chip Powering the AI Factory Era

As the latest member of the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture family, the NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPU builds on core innovations to accelerate training and AI reason...

22/08/2025

Brassic rides out in style as Sky drops trailer for acclaimed Original comedy

Friday 22 August 2025 To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To do so, click Privacy Options below and Accept All Privacy options The Brassi...

22/08/2025

Starr Parodi and Jeff Fair rebuild studio life with help from Focusrite and ADAM Audio following devastating L.A. wildfire loss

Starr Parodi and Jeff Fair rebuild studio life with help from Focusrite and ADAM...

22/08/2025

Hot Topics at Hot Chips: Inference, Networking, AI Innovation at Every Scale - All Built on NVIDIA

AI reasoning, inference and networking will be top of mind for attendees of next...

22/08/2025

Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 on RT

Join Jacqui Hurley as she leads RT 's television coverage of the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025, with reporting from the Irish camp by Clare MacNamara. Co...

21/08/2025

Amra and Spotify Strike a New Multi-Territorial Direct Licensing Agreement

Spotify and amra, the world's first and only global digital licensing collection society, have entered into a direct multi-territorial, multi-year licensing...

21/08/2025

Spotify Takes Instagram Sharing to the Next Level with Audio Previews and Real-Time Listening Notes

Spotify is making it easier than ever to connect with your friends on Instagram ...

21/08/2025

Spotify Brings Romantasy to Life With Our Dark and Mysterious Forbid-Inn Audiobooks Experience

From enemies-to-lovers banter to star-crossed soulmates battling curses, romanta...

21/08/2025

Statement on Acting Managing Director arrangements at SBS

Statement on Acting Managing Director arrangements at SBS 21 August, 2025 Insights & articles The SBS Board of Directors has today confirmed it will appoin...

21/08/2025

L3Harris Expands Florida Facility to Support America's Golden Dome

L3Harris Technologies Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik speaks at the opening of the 94,000-square-foot satellite integration and test facility. The company ...

21/08/2025

Clear-Com Connects the Desert Across Coachella and Stagecoach 2025

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

21/08/2025

Imagine Communications to Debut SNP-XS at IBC2025

DENVER At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Imagine Communications will introduce the SNP-XS, a versatile addition to its Selenio Network Processor (SN...

21/08/2025

BitFire Launches Live Master Control in the Cloud

HUDSON, Mass. BitFire, a provider of software-defined live production and IP transmission, today announced the addition of cloud-based live master control capab...

21/08/2025

Gray Media to Launch New Hyper-Personalized Video Streaming Service

ATLANTA Gray Media has laid out plans for launching a new cutting-edge, hyper-personalized streaming platform that will start going live in Grays markets in Jan...

21/08/2025

Chyron Partners with Asport for Live Sports Production and Distribution

NEW YORK and ZURICH Chyron, a provider of broadcast graphics and live production solutions, has announced a partnership with Asport, a leading sports tech innov...

21/08/2025

swXtch.io to Debut SRTx Gateway at IBC2025

NEW YORK swXtch.io has amplified its support for SRT workflows with a new specialized gateway solution primarily targeted at the live event market. To be introd...

21/08/2025

Rise Academy Revives 4K Charity Run for IBC 2025

AMSTERDAM Rise Academy, the charity dedicated to delivering practical media technology experiences, careers resources and sharing work experience opportunities ...

21/08/2025

Carr Names a New Special Assistant

WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the appointment of Courtney Cowper as a special assistant in his office. As a special assistant in the Office of ...

21/08/2025

Live Media Group Debuts New IP-based REMI Production Truck

COLUMBUS, Ohio Live Media Group has launched its latest mobile production unit, the MU-28, which is a SMPTE 2110-7 IP-based truck built specifically for remote ...

21/08/2025

Sling TV Launches Sling Select

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. Sling TV has launched a new offering called Select that provides a package of cable channels for $19.99 a month....

21/08/2025

Viant and Wurl Partner on Scene-Level CTV Targeting and Measurement

IRVINE, Calif. CTV and programmatic ad provider Viant Technology Inc. has announced a new integration of its DSP with Wurl that provides advertisers with scene...

21/08/2025

Marshall Electronics to Show New PTZ Camera at IBC2025

TORRANCE, Calif. Marshall Electronics will highlight several new products at IBC2025, including the CV612 PTZ camera, RCP Plus camera controller and VMV-402-3GS...

21/08/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spolight: MyCaseBuilder's Steve Holand on Creating Custom Cases for Everything From Cameras to Championship Trophies

SVG New Sponsor Spolight: MyCaseBuilder's Steve Holand on Creating Custom Ca...