We can only imagine when the limit is: $50M for the Sorare startup and its fantasy football community

A separate place in the gaming niche, the news of which we often write, is occupied by the fantasy sports sector. Using characters and behavior scenarios from real sports, fantasy games give access and the opportunity for console and Internet users to simulate a sport game themselves. The entire market for such gaming in 2019 was estimated at $18.6B, and by 2027 experts expect it to grow to $8.6B.

Among the various sports in the fantasy segment, football is in the lead. And this is expressed not only in the number of users of specialized platforms, but also in the volume of investments in this sub-segment.

Today it became known about the raise of A round of $50M by the French startup Sorare, a platform for the sale of virtual cards of fantasy football players. Benchmark led the process (which includes Twitter, Snap, Instagram and Discord) with the participation of Accel and several business angels, including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanyan. According to the founders, the project is already making a profit, and the money will be used to develop the community, increase the staff and launch a mobile application.

Founded in 2018, Sorare increased its virtual card revenue over the past year from $60.000 to $4.2M, scaling its operations to 120 countries. Actually, the purchase of official digital cards is the main profitable part of the company's activities, which today successfully cooperate with the largest football clubs.

The blockchain technology on which the project is built allows the use of purchased cards in the global fantasy game. As Sorare CEO Nicholas Giulia notes, the exciting collecting process plus the passion for football creates excitement and builds a community. Actually, working with the community today is the main direction of the company.