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Hey you,
Sorare had already raised 40 thousand dollars at the beginning of the year, and now it’s going one step further by raising more than 680 million dollars. This is a record-breaking round of funding for the French Tech world, and an announcement that promises to go down in history. It beats Content Square, which until now held the record, with a fundraising of 500 million dollars in the first half of 2021. So, beyond the figures and the race to raise incredible amounts of money, what is behind this startup? What is its project and ambition? Passion Media comes back with you on the subject.
A UFO in the world of French Tech
Sorare is outside the box, by its very concept. For those who don’t know, the startup’s promise is simple: reinvent the Panini sticker. Yes, you read that right. More concretely, the application is dedicated to soccer fans. The idea? Internet users can acquire, via an auction system, virtual cards of players, more or less rare. Some of them are published with a single copy, others with 1000 copies. In other words, it’s a bit like the Pokémon phenomenon, but in a sport and virtual version. Internet users can collect players, exchange their cards, and even resell them (sometimes realizing very nice capital gains). We are far from what we are used to see in the tech world (management saas, content creation tools, etc…). So, why such an attraction and what are the other secrets of the application?
A key universe: Fantasy Football
This is what we call the fantasy soccer universe. Beyond simply collecting cards, the application offers a host of other features. A way to increase the sauce, to create the need, to mobilize its community. The Internet users, by acquiring certain cards, can participate in exclusive online championships. The latter allow them to increase the value of their cards and their collection. So, is this the 2.0 version of the traditional philatelist (stamp collector) or numismatist (coin collector)? It goes further than that. The company aims to create a strong link between virtual and reality. It is thus gradually weaving key links with players, federations and key events. The idea? To establish partnerships to capitalize on the potential of both worlds. One thing is for sure, investors believe in it like a rock.
In the tradition of non-fungible tokens (NFT)
Scarcity, the queen of this new, unavoidable universe. Sorare is riding the wave of non-fungible tokens, these famous digital certificates secured via the blockchain that can be acquired to guarantee the possession of a digital object (a gif, a meme, a piece of music, a digital work of art, etc…). And precisely, the founders of Sorare clearly state their ambition: to become the first NFT sports entertainment group in the world
The marriage of sport and tech
The startup started with soccer, but intends to expand its field of action. The company is also moving into the United States with the ambition of soon integrating four key sports across the Atlantic (NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL). According to Reuters, the fantasy sports market should reach 48 billion dollars in 2027, while the virtual sports card market should weigh more than 5 billion. In the meantime, the stakes are high for the start-up. Today, it has only 150,000 users on its platform. And yet, it plans to achieve more than 100 million in sales by the end of 2021. In short, it’s a case to follow. Stay tuned as we say in the jargon.
