The creator of the popular NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, Yuga Labs has secured $450 million in seed funding. This has boosted the startup’s valuation to $4 billion. Yuga Labs will use the funds for future partnerships and staff expansion. The funding round was led by venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz (a16z). Animoca Brands, TheSandbox, and LionTree also participated.
Guy Oseary, partner at Yuga Labs, in a statement, said the fundraiser has given the company speed to market on many things underway. He highlighted that it will bring in new partners with strategic thinking that share a similar vision.
The funding follows Yuga Labs’ recent acquisition of commercial rights to NFT collections – CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs. It empowers Yuga Labs with the intellectual property rights of some of the three most profitable crypto assets in the industry.
Nicole Muniz, chief executive of Yuga Labs, believes a new economy is possible with the IP of Apes, Punks, and Meetbits owned by the community. He said the opportunities and possibilities of blockchain’s impact on culture are endless. As such, Yuga Labs is building a beautiful, interoperable world for people.
Chris Lyons, the general partner at a16z crypto, pointed out that Yuga Labs has emerged as a Web3 culture, gaming, and entertainment empire. He said Yuga is at the forefront of merging culture and innovation as mainstream adoption in Web3 accelerates at lightning speed. Lyons says the capital injection will help Yuga speed up more into the market.
