Web3 platform Yuga Labs has closed a $450 million Series Seed funding round, led by a16z crypto.
Yuga Labs is a web3 platform behind the popular NFT series Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs.
Last week, Universal Music Group‘s Web3 label 10:22PM bought a Bored Ape NFT for over $350,000.
The funding round values Yuga Labs at $4 billion.
The round has seen participation from top tier game studios like Animoca Brands and its subsidiary The Sandbox, strategic partners like LionTree, Sound Ventures, and Thrive Capital, and prominent crypto platforms like FTX and MoonPay.
Other investors named by Yuga Labs include artists like Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, 3LAU, Steve Aoki and Gunna, as well tech giant Samsung.
The company’s funding announcement also follows the news from earlier this month that Yuga Labs has acquired CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs.
CryptoPunks and Meebits are also popular non-fungible token (NFT) collections on the Ethereum blockchain.
Having now raised over $450 million, Yuga Labs says that it plans to use the funds to scale its “rapidly growing team, attract the best talent across creative, engineering and operations functions, and for joint ventures and partnerships it has planned”.
Additionally, on Friday, the company revealed plans for a new metaverse project, called Otherside.
In October, Yuga Labs signed with Madonna manager Guy Oseary for representation. NFTEvening reports that Oseary is a “minority partner” of Yuga Labs.
“Already, a new economy is possible with the IP of Apes, Punks, and Meebits, owned by the community.”
Nicole Muniz, Yuga Labs
“Already, a new economy is possible with the IP of Apes, Punks, and Meebits, owned by the community,” said Nicole Muniz, CEO of Yuga Labs.
“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.”
“Yuga Labs has quickly become a web3 culture, gaming, and entertainment empire.”
Chris Lyons, 16z crypto
Chris Lyons, general partner at a16z crypto, said: “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.”
“This capital will give Yuga speed to market on many things underway, and bring in new partners with strategic thinking that share the vision.”
Guy Oseary
Yuga Labs partner Guy Oseary said: “This capital will give Yuga speed to market on many things underway, and bring in new partners with strategic thinking that share the vision.”Music Business Worldwide