Twitter: @azfnft Prev @Stanford CS | Tokenomics Analyst
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Why did Yuga Labs just raise $450M? It’s about more than just money.
Yuga Labs announced they raised $450M at a $4B valuation, led by a16z. There are 36+ parties involved in this raise from Animoca Brands and Mark Cuban to Adidas and Samsung.
Yuga Labs already made over $100M in NFT sales last year. Why did they need more money? I’ll touch on two major areas of the fundraising.
If I’m starting the Bored Ape Pizza Company, in addition to capital, I would need help with how to find the most ideal locations, where to source the freshest ingredients, how to hire chefs, and so much more.
My own personal business background paired with money from family and friends can only take me so far. Here’s where a strategic investor comes into play. Someone who understands the food industry AND has the necessary connections.
As an example, I would rather take money from Gordon Ramsey than soccer sensation Kylian Mbappé even though both are very famous and talented people. As an equity holder, Gordon would provide immense value in helping scale my franchises, pick out the best recipes and hire incredible cooking talent. That type of experience is invaluable.
Gordon Ramsey, if you’re reading this, my DMs are open 🍕
a16z => The “blue chip” VC firm. As investors of Airbnb, Box, Facebook and countless other top companies, a16z understands how to build teams and become market leaders in new technological booms.
Adidas Ventures => Adidas knows how to build a brand along with scale the production of physical wearables. They are probably working on some digital wearables as well and will be a key asset in building out the BAYC brand.
Animoca Brands => Best known for being the parent company of Sandbox, Animoca has their hands in various blockchain projects such as Axie Infinity, Magic Eden, OpenSea and more. Animoca helps provide web3 gaming, metaverse and marketplace expertise for the Otherside to be successful.
Time Ventures => Time Ventures, started by Marc Benioff (founder of Salesforce, owner of Time Magazine) gives Yuga two important strategic partners: First, someone who understands how to build an empire with 70K employees and second, Time Magazine, a brand to help get the message out about BAYC.
BLAU aka 3LAU => Justin Blau sold 33 NFTs for $11.7M in March 2021 and has been an innovator in the NFT space as an artist. Building NFT products to empower artists is a green field and 3LAU could help advise on that front.
Genies => Genies is creating digital identities or “fantasy versions” of you through wearable NFTs built on Flow. This hints at expanding the Otherside to support more than just the Ethereum blockchain but maybe even Flow. Lots of overlap when it comes to creating metaverse identities and avatars.
Sound Ventures => Founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary. This allows Guy to double down on his involvement with Yuga as an advisor while also bringing in the TV/media expertise from Ashton Kutcher.
Hashed Ventures => VC firm based in both Seoul and Silicon Valley. This gives Yuga a footing in the Asia market and a network to tap into and expand from. Also investors in gaming — Decetraland, Mythical Games, Sandbox, Axie along with other crypto projects (MakerDAO, Dune Analytics, etc.).
FTX Ventures => Venture arm of FTX with access to millions of crypto traders. Gives Yuga the ability to do things like apecoin and get a completely new token listed with fewer hurdles.
Vaynerfund => Gary Vaynerchuck has been an outspoken influencer in the NFT space and has his own Veefriends NFT project. This could lead to a BAYC + Veefriends collaboration in the future. Possibly Otherside compatible Veefriends characters? Lots of possibilities here. Gary is also a social media marketing specialist and can help grow Yuga Labs’ reach.
SevenSevenSix => Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, has seen how internet communities are built up and scaled out. His web2 expertise matches perfectly to what is needed to cultivate and grow out the many NFT communities for Yuga Labs.
There are so many other investors on this list but one thing is absolutely clear:
Yuga Labs now has the network and the talents to execute on its vision of building THE gaming metaverse. Now we wait and watch 🍿
What do we know so far about Yuga Lab’s plans?
Yuga Labs is building the Otherside, a new metaverse where many other NFT collections will be invited.
From the Verge article, Gordon Goner mentioned they want to create “an interoperable world” that is “gamified” and “completely decentralized”.
CEO Nicole Muniz mentioned they are partnering with “a few different game studios” to bring Otherside to life.
Muniz also adds they’ll be building tools to allow other NFT projects to work inside the Otherside.
Finally, we’ve seen the leaked pitch deck noting the sale of 100K land with 10K Kodas being randomly given to land holders. Given the Otherside is powered by apecoin, I believe the land sale will all be in apecoin.
https://twitter.com/nftjorge/status/1505202433974284294
So how will they spend their war chest? Here’s what I would do if I was the CEO of Yuga Labs.
There is a significant amount of speculative behavior in the crypto and NFT world. If a winter comes around and people are abandoning their JPGs and metaverse games, Yuga will still be in a strong financial position to build and be a long term player in the space.
The biggest reason startups fail is because of lack of capital.
Gargamel says, “People bond from being put in positions where they have to collaborate.”
There’s so much to build to enable the Otherside and the experiences within.
To build metaverse experiences, they’ll need 3D artists, graphic designers, game developers, blockchain developers and project managers.
To enable SDKs for other developers, they’ll need a strong technical team of developers.
To support the gaming servers and underlying infrastructure, they’ll need SREs and platform engineers.
To work and partner with other projects, they’ll need an account executive and partnership team.
To market the new world, they’ll need creative directors, marketing leads, and editors.
And to hire all this out and manage the team, they’ll need a whole people team.
I would estimate around 300 - 500 people. Assuming a $150K/yr avg salary for each person, this is already $45M - $90M. This enables a 2-3 year runway.
There are only three ways that Yuga doesn’t become the new “Facebook” or “Google” for web3.
Inability to hire and execute (their equity partners can help here)
They run out of money. ($450M helps here)
Another NFT collection builds the actual #1 gaming metaverse. (This is the biggest risk)
To combat this last risk, if Yuga owns a portion of other top projects, they can always be top dog in the space. As an example, we’ve already seen them buyout Cryptopunks and Meebits.
Allocating funds in a Venture arm also helps accelerate the ability for the Otherside to become the de facto gaming metaverse. New projects get access to unparalleled funding and strategy partners while Yuga Labs increases the amount of IP built in the Otherside. Win. Win. 🤝
Yuga Labs could build an NFT marketplace to take back the millions of $$ in royalties OpenSea and Looksrare has made off of them.
Yuga Labs could build open source smart contract tools to further web3 development infrastructure.
Yuga Labs could build out internal tools they use to manage BAYC/MAYC to give to other projects. Similar to how many enterprise tools today came from internal tools built at Google or Facebook.
So much opportunity to deeply ingrain Yuga Labs in every facet of web3 development.
This can include IRL events, merch, buying an actual bar in Miami and more. Reward those who have been a part of the community and have helped with growing the brand to where it is today.
Also selfishly, I’d love more Ape swag and more events to meet other apes.
In summary, Yuga has the people and money to become THE web3 company and build out a metaverse experience we can only hope and dream of. I’m so excited to watch how things play out as an early member of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
What would you do if you were the CEO of Yuga Labs?
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I hold a few NFTs from Yuga Labs. Opinions are my own (but probably shared by others in the Bored Ape Yacht Club).
Why did Yuga Labs just raise $450M? It’s about more than just money.
Yuga Labs announced they raised $450M at a $4B valuation, led by a16z. There are 36+ parties involved in this raise from Animoca Brands and Mark Cuban to Adidas and Samsung.
Yuga Labs already made over $100M in NFT sales last year. Why did they need more money? I’ll touch on two major areas of the fundraising.
If I’m starting the Bored Ape Pizza Company, in addition to capital, I would need help with how to find the most ideal locations, where to source the freshest ingredients, how to hire chefs, and so much more.
My own personal business background paired with money from family and friends can only take me so far. Here’s where a strategic investor comes into play. Someone who understands the food industry AND has the necessary connections.
As an example, I would rather take money from Gordon Ramsey than soccer sensation Kylian Mbappé even though both are very famous and talented people. As an equity holder, Gordon would provide immense value in helping scale my franchises, pick out the best recipes and hire incredible cooking talent. That type of experience is invaluable.
Gordon Ramsey, if you’re reading this, my DMs are open 🍕
a16z => The “blue chip” VC firm. As investors of Airbnb, Box, Facebook and countless other top companies, a16z understands how to build teams and become market leaders in new technological booms.
Adidas Ventures => Adidas knows how to build a brand along with scale the production of physical wearables. They are probably working on some digital wearables as well and will be a key asset in building out the BAYC brand.
Animoca Brands => Best known for being the parent company of Sandbox, Animoca has their hands in various blockchain projects such as Axie Infinity, Magic Eden, OpenSea and more. Animoca helps provide web3 gaming, metaverse and marketplace expertise for the Otherside to be successful.
Time Ventures => Time Ventures, started by Marc Benioff (founder of Salesforce, owner of Time Magazine) gives Yuga two important strategic partners: First, someone who understands how to build an empire with 70K employees and second, Time Magazine, a brand to help get the message out about BAYC.
BLAU aka 3LAU => Justin Blau sold 33 NFTs for $11.7M in March 2021 and has been an innovator in the NFT space as an artist. Building NFT products to empower artists is a green field and 3LAU could help advise on that front.
Genies => Genies is creating digital identities or “fantasy versions” of you through wearable NFTs built on Flow. This hints at expanding the Otherside to support more than just the Ethereum blockchain but maybe even Flow. Lots of overlap when it comes to creating metaverse identities and avatars.
Sound Ventures => Founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary. This allows Guy to double down on his involvement with Yuga as an advisor while also bringing in the TV/media expertise from Ashton Kutcher.
Hashed Ventures => VC firm based in both Seoul and Silicon Valley. This gives Yuga a footing in the Asia market and a network to tap into and expand from. Also investors in gaming — Decetraland, Mythical Games, Sandbox, Axie along with other crypto projects (MakerDAO, Dune Analytics, etc.).
FTX Ventures => Venture arm of FTX with access to millions of crypto traders. Gives Yuga the ability to do things like apecoin and get a completely new token listed with fewer hurdles.
Vaynerfund => Gary Vaynerchuck has been an outspoken influencer in the NFT space and has his own Veefriends NFT project. This could lead to a BAYC + Veefriends collaboration in the future. Possibly Otherside compatible Veefriends characters? Lots of possibilities here. Gary is also a social media marketing specialist and can help grow Yuga Labs’ reach.
SevenSevenSix => Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, has seen how internet communities are built up and scaled out. His web2 expertise matches perfectly to what is needed to cultivate and grow out the many NFT communities for Yuga Labs.
There are so many other investors on this list but one thing is absolutely clear:
Yuga Labs now has the network and the talents to execute on its vision of building THE gaming metaverse. Now we wait and watch 🍿
What do we know so far about Yuga Lab’s plans?
Yuga Labs is building the Otherside, a new metaverse where many other NFT collections will be invited.
From the Verge article, Gordon Goner mentioned they want to create “an interoperable world” that is “gamified” and “completely decentralized”.
CEO Nicole Muniz mentioned they are partnering with “a few different game studios” to bring Otherside to life.
Muniz also adds they’ll be building tools to allow other NFT projects to work inside the Otherside.
Finally, we’ve seen the leaked pitch deck noting the sale of 100K land with 10K Kodas being randomly given to land holders. Given the Otherside is powered by apecoin, I believe the land sale will all be in apecoin.
https://twitter.com/nftjorge/status/1505202433974284294
So how will they spend their war chest? Here’s what I would do if I was the CEO of Yuga Labs.
There is a significant amount of speculative behavior in the crypto and NFT world. If a winter comes around and people are abandoning their JPGs and metaverse games, Yuga will still be in a strong financial position to build and be a long term player in the space.
The biggest reason startups fail is because of lack of capital.
Gargamel says, “People bond from being put in positions where they have to collaborate.”
There’s so much to build to enable the Otherside and the experiences within.
To build metaverse experiences, they’ll need 3D artists, graphic designers, game developers, blockchain developers and project managers.
To enable SDKs for other developers, they’ll need a strong technical team of developers.
To support the gaming servers and underlying infrastructure, they’ll need SREs and platform engineers.
To work and partner with other projects, they’ll need an account executive and partnership team.
To market the new world, they’ll need creative directors, marketing leads, and editors.
And to hire all this out and manage the team, they’ll need a whole people team.
I would estimate around 300 - 500 people. Assuming a $150K/yr avg salary for each person, this is already $45M - $90M. This enables a 2-3 year runway.
There are only three ways that Yuga doesn’t become the new “Facebook” or “Google” for web3.
Inability to hire and execute (their equity partners can help here)
They run out of money. ($450M helps here)
Another NFT collection builds the actual #1 gaming metaverse. (This is the biggest risk)
To combat this last risk, if Yuga owns a portion of other top projects, they can always be top dog in the space. As an example, we’ve already seen them buyout Cryptopunks and Meebits.
Allocating funds in a Venture arm also helps accelerate the ability for the Otherside to become the de facto gaming metaverse. New projects get access to unparalleled funding and strategy partners while Yuga Labs increases the amount of IP built in the Otherside. Win. Win. 🤝
Yuga Labs could build an NFT marketplace to take back the millions of $$ in royalties OpenSea and Looksrare has made off of them.
Yuga Labs could build open source smart contract tools to further web3 development infrastructure.
Yuga Labs could build out internal tools they use to manage BAYC/MAYC to give to other projects. Similar to how many enterprise tools today came from internal tools built at Google or Facebook.
So much opportunity to deeply ingrain Yuga Labs in every facet of web3 development.
This can include IRL events, merch, buying an actual bar in Miami and more. Reward those who have been a part of the community and have helped with growing the brand to where it is today.
Also selfishly, I’d love more Ape swag and more events to meet other apes.
In summary, Yuga has the people and money to become THE web3 company and build out a metaverse experience we can only hope and dream of. I’m so excited to watch how things play out as an early member of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
What would you do if you were the CEO of Yuga Labs?
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I hold a few NFTs from Yuga Labs. Opinions are my own (but probably shared by others in the Bored Ape Yacht Club).
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