The parent company of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, Yuga Labs, raised $450 million in its seed round funding, taking its valuation to $4 billion.
Yuga Labs Completes Seed Round, Secures A16z Investment
The creator of the million-dollar ape NFTs, Yuga Lab raised a total of $450 million from the seed round, which included other investors like Animoca Brands, LionTree, Sound Ventures, Thrive Capital, FTX, and MoonPay. The capital raised has catapulted the startup into unicorn status with a $4 billion valuation. The firm announced news of the funding with a statement from representation manager Guy Oseary.
“This capital will give Yuga speed to market on many things underway, and bring in new partners with strategic thinking that share the vision.”
The round was led by venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz (a16z), which has lately been making strong moves in crypto investments.
General partner at a16z crypto noted,
“Yuga Labs has quickly become a web3 culture, gaming, and entertainment empire. Mainstream adoption in web3 is accelerating at lightning speed, and Yuga is at the forefront of merging culture and innovation for everyone to enter the metaverse. We’re thrilled to invest in this brilliant team and their vision, and help forge the next frontier of community-owned entertainment.”
Stepping Into The Metaverse
Even though the firm had previously grabbed the attention of several VCs and investors over its uber-successful NFT drops, this was the first time that it actively went through a funding round. Additionally, the announcement has elaborated on the company’s plans to expand beyond NFT drops, as it has stated that the funds will be used to scale up and build an impressive team of creative and accomplished talent.
On Friday, Yuga Labs revealed plans to launch its new metaverse project, called Otherside. CEO Nicole Muniz elaborated further on this landmark decision, saying,
“Already, a new economy is possible with the IP of Apes, Punks, and Meebits, owned by the community. The possibilities for blockchain’s impact on culture are endless, and so we are building a beautiful, interoperable world for people to explore and play in. There’s a lot to come.”
The firm has also recently announced the launch of the ApeCoin token, which will be completely governed by the ApeCoin DAO, or a decentralized organization of council members connected to the project. The ApeCoin project is just another example of how Yuga Labs is ready to evolve from its BAYC fame and develop the metaverse.
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