Feb 3, 2022 - Economy

Andreessen Horowitz in talks to invest in Bored Ape Yacht Club

Illustration of a peeled banana made of money. — Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Andreessen Horowitz is in advanced talks to lead a large funding round for Yuga Labs, the company behind the NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club, Axios has learned from multiple sources.

Why it matters: Bored Apes is among the most popular community-based NFTs, below CryptoPunks and above Pixel Vault (which just raised $100 million of its own). Last week, Justin Bieber paid $1.29 million for a Bored Ape, while another last year sold for $3.4 million at Sotheby's.

The round is expected to be for at least $200 million, with industry insiders NFT Nick recently tweeting that the company was seeking a $5 billion valuation.
Andreessen Horowitz declined to comment, while Yuga Labs didn't respond to Axios' inquiries.
The deal is not yet closed, which means it still could fall through.

Business model: Yuga generates revenue via primary sales of its Apes or other NFTs, including recent Mutants and Kennel drops, plus residual revenue when those NFTs are resold on the blockchain.

Buyers retain IP rights to their Apes, which means they could use the image to sell or market other products.

Go deeper: Bored Ape Yacht Club's misadventures with NFTs

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Andreessen Horowitz in talks to invest in Bored Ape Yacht Club

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