Blockchain Lab Behind Bored Ape Yacht Club Reportedly In Talks With A16z

Yuga Labs, the blockchain development firm behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series, is reportedly in talks with A16z (Andreessen Horowitz), a Silicon Valley tech venture capital firm that’s currently focused on crypto startups.

Initial reports on the matter were shared to sources at the Financial Times publication, which detailed how Yuga Labs is seeking investment from A16z, with a reported valuation that goes up to $5 billion. If a deal does go through and the investment is secured, such a partnership would account for the first institutional investment that Yuga Labs would receive.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of 10,000 iterative images that doubles as a holder’s membership to the “club” is among the NFT scene’s largest and most valuable collections to date, with over 383,000 ETH in volume traded at a floor price of 100 ETH each, representing over $1 billion in total traded volume.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, given that the negotiations are not final, and neither A16z nor Yuga Labs have confirmed that such a deal is closing soon.

According to Yuga Labs, it envisions to have its company become a “community-owned brand” despite having just 11 full-time employees at the moment. Once a deal with A16z is secured, this would likely expand. A16z has concurrent investments in other NFT projects such as OpenSea, Autograph, and Cryptokitties, as well as other crypto projects such as Solana Labs, Talos, Aleo, and Dfinity.

A16z recently disclosed that it is looking to expand its crypto exposure, and is seeking some $3.5 billion for its venture capital fund, alongside a separate $1 billion for seed investments aimed at Web3 development. Last year, in June, A16z posted a record $2.2 billion raise for a crypto venture fund.

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