The company standing behind the development of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Yuga Labs, attracted $450 M in a recent Series Seeds funding stage. Completing the round, its valuation has reached $4 bln.
Related: BAYC Creator Yuga Labs to Launch Its Metaverse
VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led the round. Among investors were game software company Animoca Brands, cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase, and FTX, fintech company MoonPay and others.
A release by Yuga Labs says the company plans to use funds to expand the team and build joint ventures and partnerships. On March 19, Yuga announced a new project, Otherside.
Yuga Labs CEO Nicole Muniz said a new economy is possible with the Intellectual Property of Ape, CryptoPunk and Meetbit NFTs owned by the community. Muniz believes the possibilities for blockchain's impact on culture are limitless, and that the company is creating a beautiful, interoperable environment for people to explore and participate. He says there is a lot to accomplish.
The project Otherside is expected to launch in April. It will be powered by ApeCoin, the currency of the BAYC ecosystem launched on March 17.