As NFT trading volumes plummet, Lisbon's RealFevr raises €10 million

In what’s bound to be a week packed full of announcements, particularly of the Portuguese flavour, first out of the gate is fantasy football leagues, trading moments app, and video NFTs marketplace RealFevr with its announcement of a €10 million funding round. According to the Lisbon-based organisation, the ten mil will be used to further international expansion efforts and acquire new IP rights. Since the 1st of January 2018 RealFevr has raised €15.4 million.

With global Ambassador and shareholder Bruno Fernandes aboard, RealFevr’s €10 million funding round was led by ADvantage, with participation from Semapa Next, Shilling Capital Partners, and several undisclosed soccer stars.

Given that just a month ago our friends at Bloomberg reported on the massive 97% drop in NFT trading volumes since the beginning of this year, from $17 billion down to just $466 million from January to September, and Liverpool FC’s disastrous plunge into the world of NFTs, 95% of the collection went unsold, it’s an interesting time to come out of the gates with a €10 million funding round. Sure, these deals are months in the making, but still.

When looking at the £1.125 million in revenue that Liverpool actually garnered, as opposed to the £8.5 million that was projected, perhaps it’s better to frame RealFevr’s argument in terms of sales. According to the company, “All NFT collection pack drops to date have sold out in less than 24 hours, with over 145,000 packs sold” and feature players such as Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Ángel Di María, Ronaldinho, Eric Cantona, Totti, Rúben Dias, and others.

“Given the actual market characteristics as well as worldwide economic and political challenges, securing €10 Million reinforces the vision we all share, as a team, for RealFevr,” commented To the point, RealFevr CEO Fred Antunes. “Being at the forefront of innovation in such a competitive and highly technological market, we are determined to stay bold in one of the most transformative markets we’ve seen in our lifetime.”

With more than a few Web3 sports-related startups all vying for a slice of the pie, ADvantage’s Jeremy Pressman commented, “we’ve seen our fair share of startups building products at the intersection of sports and Web3. What immediately stood out about the RealFevr team, was not only their deep domain expertise in the Web3 and blockchain spaces, but also their focus on, and understanding of, what it takes to build community.”