Bored Ape Yacht Club Creators in Funding Talks With Andreessen Horowitz: Report
The startup is seeking a valuation of as much as $5 billion in the proposed funding round.
Feb 3, 2022 at 12:53 p.m. UTC:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/ZNUNWW5KJ5FQRGMIGRLUCA543E.png)
A selection of Bored Apes, one of the bestselling NFT avatar series. (Screenshot/OpenSea)
Yuga Labs, the startup behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, is in talks with venture capital heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) over a funding round that would give it a valuation as high as $5 billion, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
- Yuga Labs is in talks about selling a multimillion-dollar stake with a16z among the firms it is courting, the Financial Times said, citing people with knowledge of the discussions.
- Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of 10,000 algorithmically generated images of cartoon apes minted and sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain, counts a score of celebrities as owners, including Paris Hilton and Steph Curry.
- Rapper Eminem recently bought one on OpenSea for 123.45 ETH ($319,000).
- Previously an early investor in Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb and Stripe, a16z has invested extensively in the cryptocurrency industry, recently telling investors it is looking to raise $3.5 billion for a new crypto venture fund.
DISCLOSURE
Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
:format(webp)/www.coindesk.com/resizer/Wsw21Z13uYNeMwlEy09fcHX_LHw=/arc-photo-coindesk/arc2-prod/public/Z2G3HHMTVJGWRAQIH4UHCT3FEY.jpg)
Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.
Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.