NFT fantasy sports startup Sorare lays off 13% of staff as web3 gaming continues to sputter
NFT fantasy sports startup Sorare is laying off 13% of its employees. The reason is a decrease in investor interest and revenue volumes.
News about startups in the world of NFT and Web33 gaming always attracts attention. Especially when it comes to a company that combines fantasy sports and digital assets. It was recently reported that Sorare, a company that creates collectable NFT-based soccer player cards, is laying off 13% of its employees due to issues with promoting Web3-games. Despite this, the company is not closing its New York office and is continuing to grow its operations by moving more employees to Paris.
Changes in the company’s operations
In February, Sorare, a company specializing in fantasy sports using Web3 technology, decided to lay off 22 employees from its New York office. The reason for this move was the startup’s desire to concentrate certain teams in its Paris headquarters in order to improve communication and operational efficiency. In addition, another 11 employees have been asked to relocate to Paris.
However, this does not mean a complete closure of the New York office. The company has decided to keep some employees here, such as those who work with U.S. clients or are involved in partnerships involving leagues such as MLB and NBA. Partnerships with these sports leagues last for several years and will remain an important part of the company’s operations.
According to a company spokesperson, the layoffs are not related to financial difficulties, but executives realize that the time frame needed to achieve certain milestones may be longer than originally expected. Solar users can continue to buy and sell NFT cards from other players on the platform, though the company’s main source of revenue comes from issuing and selling new cards, with user transactions hitting the $200 million mark in 2023.
It is partly like gambling, as no one knows whether the price of a particular NFT will rise or fall in the future. Thus, it is much easier to register through an application at a traditional 1Win online casino on this website, or any other, get bonuses and play for money, rather than investing your money in an area that is unclear to many people.
Despite the layoffs and team realignments, the company plans to restore most of the laid-off positions in Paris and hire more than 20 employees in the next six months. There’s no word yet on whether the company is profitable, but it continues to try to realize ambitious plans in the world of fantasy sports and digital technology. It is also not very clear how successful this startup is in attracting a target audience of online gambling app enthusiasts.
According to secondary data, Sorare has not attracted much interest from local investors. It is worth noting that the declining interest in Web3 companies is not a problem faced exclusively by Sorare. Many startups working in this area have lost their appeal to investors. For example, according to Crunchbase, startups in this category will only raise $7 billion in 2023, down 74% from the $26 billion raised in 2022. In comparison, total venture capital funding fell 38% in the same period.