Binance Labs invests $4 million in Paris-based Ultimate Champions as it ramps up Web3 development

Parisian sports game platform Ultimate Champions, also known as Unagi, has raised $4 million via Binance Labs, the VC arm and accelerator of Binance. The capital will be used to support Ultimate Champions’ further development of its gaming titles, seek out and secure new and additional partnerships, and push the message to the masses as it dives deeper into the web3 space.

“Ultimate Champions’ ambition is to bring Web3 sports gaming to a wider audience with a fun, accessible, and free-to-play experience. We are extremely happy to innovate and expand the Web3 sports gaming ecosystem with Binance Labs. Also, we believe that BNB Chain can be the robust platform on which our game can flourish,” explained Ultimate Champions co-founder Charlie Guillemot.

Ultimate Champions is a free-to-play fantasy sports platform that will be deployed on the BNB chain, upon completion. Once live, the plan is for the creation to land on the Binance Fan Token Platform, thus allowing players an amped up fan experience and better engagement with their favourite teams.

While the initial iteration of Ultimate Champions focused on football, the startup has recently won an exclusive partnership with EuroLeague, a top professional basketball management company in Europe, and will expand into fantasy basketball next year.

Binance co-founder Yi He comments, “The world of Web3 gaming is expanding and Binance Labs is looking for Web3 gaming projects that have missions of providing real entertainment to the users rather than the ones focusing on giving out more opportunities to ‘earn’.”

Alex Odagiu, Investment Director at Binance Labs, adds, “We see the massive potential that Web3 brings to the way sports clubs, players and their fans connect with each other online. On top of using digital collectibles as a medium for fan engagement, Ultimate Champions supports a player-centric gameplay and a walletless onboarding. This mechanism not only facilitates more flexible and long-lasting ways for players to engage with their favorite sports clubs, but also makes blockchain gaming ever more accessible.”