Mbappé, Sorare's new luxury shareholder

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

With the arrival of the football world champion, the French unicorn known for its NFT-based card game is looking to accelerate its development.

The release at the end of April of a story on his Instagram account announcing the release of his unique Sorare card had begun to fuel the rumour mill: Kylian Mbappé, investor in the French NFT star? At the time, the world champion declined to answer. Questioned in May by The Big Whale as part of a major interview, Sorare boss Nicolas Julia kindly sidestepped the question. But now it's confirmed, the French star of Paris-Saint-Germain is now a shareholder in the company valued at just over $4 billion.

With this deal, Sorare, which has raised $680 million in 2021 (a record for French Tech), is doing a double because as well as becoming an investor, the native of Bondy will become one of its main ambassadors. The Paris Saint-Germain player has 72 and 8 million followers respectively on Instagram and Twitter. "We are delighted that Kylian is joining Sorare in our adventure to connect millions of sports fans around the world," says Nicolas Julia.

This is not the first time Sorare has brought a sportsperson into its capital. American tennis player Serena Williams and footballers Antoine Griezmann, Rio Ferdinand and Gerard Piqué are also shareholders in the company founded in 2018.

For the French start-up, this tie-up with one of the world's best-known sportsmen represents a huge opportunity to gain notoriety, while its brand is still timidly breaking through beyond the crypto sphere. Sorare claims 1.8 million 'registered' users worldwide (including 380,000 active players and 125,000 who buy cards). With Kylian Mbappé, it has acquired a personality who is much better known than it is, and who will be able to guarantee it a certain resonance with the general public... but also with its future commercial partners.

To continue to grow, Sorare needs to win over the sports leagues, and support like that of the 23-year-old player is a major asset. For now, the English Premier League, the most prestigious league in the world, is still refusing to give in to the company's siren calls. In addition to football, Sorare recently announced the launch of an American baseball version of its game. Nicolas Julia's company aims to become a global brand for fantasy games. With Kylian Mbappé, it is putting all the chances on its side to achieve this.

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