Benchmark Leads $50M Round for Digital Soccer Collectibles Platform Sorare

Sorare, a platform that provides digital soccer collectibles in collaboration with big-name teams, has raised $50 million in Series A funding to grow its community and launch a mobile application.

In an emailed announcement Thursday, Sorare said the funding round was led by venture capital firm Benchmark, which backs Twitter, Uber and Snap.
Other investors include Accel Partners; soccer stars Rio Ferdinand, Oliver Bierhoff and Antoine Griezmann; entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Sorare said it is taking fans into a "new era of online football fandom" with its blockchain technology-backed digital collectibles.
These are represented as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with over 120 soccer clubs including Juventus having launched tradable digital cards on its platform.
“As world football has shifted from local supporters to global fanbases, football fans are looking for new ways to be connected to the game, the players and other fans,” said Gerard Piqué, strategic adviser at Sorare.

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