NFT craze fuels US$4.3 billion French football card startup

PARIS: Sorare, the French startup behind a game that lets players trade virtual football stickers for hefty sums, on Tuesday said it had raised a record US$680 million from investors, valuing the group at US$4.3 billion.

It is the largest amount ever raised in a single private fundraising round in the French tech sector, with the company riding high on a global craze for the digital collectibles known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The funding round - equivalent to €580 million - caps a meteoric rise for Sorare, which was only founded in 2018 and now ranks as France's most valuable startup, with international football stars among its investors.

"Our ambition is to be the world's first entertainment company within the sports sector," co-founder Nicolas Julia told AFP, adding that Sorare was eyeing a launch on the stock exchange "in the next few years".

Sorare's game blends old-fashioned football sticker collecting with new technology, financial speculation, and aspects of hugely popular "fantasy football" games where fans can build their dream squads.

Using the cryptocurrency Ethereum, players can buy and sell digital images of footballers in NFT form, with their value fluctuating according to their performances on the pitch.

Newcomers can play with free cards, which exist in unlimited quantities. But as always with collectibles, the rarest are the most coveted.

A unique Cristiano Ronaldo card sold for nearly US$290,000 in March, breaking the site's records.

Blockchain, the technology underpinning cryptocurrency transfers, is used to authenticate the cards' rarity, with the most sought-after existing only in batches of 10, 100, or as unique copies.

Sorare makes its money by taking a commission on auctions of the NFTs.

The company