Key Takeaways:



Yuga Labs, the creator of the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, said earlier today that it had raised a $450 million seed round from venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz at a $4 billion valuation. The metaverse project, named “ Otherside “, will bring together avatars from a variety of NFT initiatives, including BAYC. Yuga Labs teased earlier this week that a metaverse project powered by Ape Token, a new ape-themed crypto coin, was in the works. Andreessen Horowitz, which has been investing aggressively in the Web3 field, led the funding round, which was one of the largest for an NFT company to date. It has previously invested in companies such as OpenSea, Dapper Labs, and Coinbase.



Yuga Labs, the Web3 firm behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, has raised $450 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz to grow its main metaverse project, Otherside , and produce NFT-focused games as component of the “ Yugaverse .” Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based game software company, and crypto exchange Bitfinex are among the other investors in the round.




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According to sources, the team aims to utilize the money to construct a media conglomerate and its own NFT-centric Metaverse called “Otherside.”



In a news announcement, Chris Lyons, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, remarked, “Yuga Labs has swiftly established a Web3 culture, gaming, and entertainment empire.” “Web3 adoption is rising at breakneck speed, and Yuga is at the vanguard of fusing culture and innovation to make the metaverse accessible to everyone.” We’re ecstatic to support this incredible team and their mission, and to help pave the way for the next generation of community-owned entertainment.”



Lyons later declared his intention to join Yuga’s board of directors.




I am beyond excited to announce that @a16z crypto is leading the financing of @yugalabs and I'm joining the board. We look forward to helping the team continue to usher the next wave of creators and builders into web3 to define the future of culture and innovation. LFG!