Leading NFT powerhouse Yuga Labs announced a new funding round Tuesday that includes some of the largest technology companies and investment funds. The funding round also included the participation of several notable athletes and celebrities.
What Happened: Yuga Labs raised $450 million in a seed funding round valuing the company at $4 billion.
A16z Crypto led the funding round along with large participants Animoca Brands, The Sandbox SAND/USD, LionTree, Sound Ventures, Thrive Capital, FTX and MoonPay.
The announcement follows recent rumors that the company could be valued at $5 billion in funding led by a16z.
Funding will be used to grow the team for Yuga Labs and for “joint ventures and partnerships it had planned.”
A16z cryptocurrency general partner Chris Lyons will join the Board of Directors for Yuga Labs.
“We’re thrilled to invest in this brilliant team and their vision and help forge the next frontier of community-owned entertainment,” Lyons said.
The company, in a statement, highlighted its upcoming launch of a metaverse project called Otherside, an item it teased recently on Twitter Inc TWTR.
“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 CEO Nicole Muniz said.
An image shared on Twitter highlights 36 of the investors in the round and uses their Bored Ape Yacht Club or Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs as part of the announcement. Among the other Yuga Labs investors are:
- Google Ventures, owned by Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL
- SevenSevenSix
- Adidas Ventures, from Adidas ADDYY
- Cobalt Capital
- Standard Crypto
- SV Angel
- Snoop Dogg
- Shaquille O’Neal/Forest Road
- Gunna
- Dez Bryant
- Timbaland
- Steve Aoki
- Blau
- Eden Block
- Friendly Trading
- Hashed
- Bond
- Samsung
- Artist Capital
- Nural/Kinetic
- Mark Cuban
- Genies
- VaynerFund
- Colin Kaepernick
- Sound Ventures
- Lightspeed Ventures
- Digital
- TIME Ventures
Related Link: Celebrities That Own Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs
Why It’s Important: This marks one of the largest seed funding rounds of all time and comes with the support of some of the biggest names.
Google and Samsung are huge names in the technology space. A16z has been a leader in the investment space with increasing funding for cryptocurrency companies. FTX and MoonPay are cryptocurrency companies that can help add their expertise. Genies recently named former The Walt Disney Co DIS CEO Bob Iger to its board of directors.
The funding also included support from many celebrities and athletes, which could help with the company’s already increasing brand awareness.
Yuga Labs recently announced it was acquiring CryptoPunks and Meebits rights from Yuga Labs. ApeCoin was also recently launched by ApeDAO as a token to be utilized by Yuga Labs in upcoming projects.
Photo: Courtesy of Scott Beale on Flickr
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