Yuga Labs confirmed recently that it has acquired $450 million in a fundraising round headed by Andreessen Horowitz, valuing the Web3 business at $4 billion. Yuga Labs, based in Miami, verified the fundraising and valuation figures to Decrypt by email today.
Animoca Brands, Coinbase, MoonPay, and FTX are among the other Web3 firms that contributed to Yuga Labs’ initial investment round.
Yuga Labs, which launched the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs and recently purchased the CryptoPunks and Meebits IP from Larva Labs, is hoping to grow its footprint as a prominent NFT brand. Yuga intends to use its new funding to hire additional employees and develop brand partnerships.
It released a video advertising Otherside, an NFT-based MMORPG game in which users can use their NFTs as playable characters, on Friday. According to Yuga Labs’ tweet, ApeCoin will be Otherside’s official in-game money, and additional information will be announced in April.
Gordon Goner, a co-founder of the BAYC who was previously outed by BuzzFeed, told The Verge that Yuga’s goal with Otherside is to create a “gamified” and decentralized experience.
Nicole Muniz, CEO of Yuga Labs, stated that Otherside will be open to NFTs other than those managed by Yuga Labs, and that “a few different game studios” are assisting in the development of the game.
“We’re literally opening the entrance to a walled garden and saying, ‘Everybody’s welcome,'” Muniz told The Verge.
