FC Barcelona secures $132M investment for blockchain and NFT venture

[src_image]
[quote]Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona has secured a $132 million investment from Libero Football Finance AG and Nipa Capital B.V. for its Web3 initiative, Barça Vision.

– FC Barcelona sold a 29.5% stake in Bridgeburg Invest, the holding company for Barça Vision, in exchange for the capital.

– Barça Vision aims to integrate all digital content around Web3 and blockchain, including NFTs and the metaverse. This is in line with the club’s strategy to build the digital Espai Barça.

– Libero Football Finance AG is a publicly listed company in Germany that advises soccer clubs on financial matters. Nipa Capital B.V. is a venture capital firm based in the Netherlands.

– The transaction is subject to approval from FC Barcelona shareholders and is expected to close in Q4 2023.

– Since February 2020, FC Barcelona has partnered with the Chiliz blockchain to create Ethereum-based FC Barcelona Fan Tokens (BAR) for its sports franchise.

– In August 2022, Chiliz acquired a 24.5% stake in FC Barcelona’s digital content creation arm, Barça Vision, for $100 million.

– In May, FC Barcelona launched its first NFT collection with Plastiks, featuring 3,000 animal-themed NFTs aimed at reducing plastic waste.

– In July 2022, FC Barcelona sold its first NFT artwork, “Masterpiece #1 In A Way,” for $693,000 at Sotheby’s New York auction.

– The second artwork in the series, “Masterpiece #2 – Empowerment,” was sold on OpenSea for $300,231 on June 28, 2023.

[src_twitter]