Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens (NFTs), is reportedly in talks over investment from tech venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) and may be eyeing a US$5bn valuation.
The company is said to be seeking funding for a multi-million-dollar piece of the firm, according to sources for the Financial Times, with any potential deal becoming the first institutional investment in the creator of NFTs.
Silicon Valley venture capitalists A16z reportedly wants to expand its exposure to crypto projects and sees a chunky investment in Yuga Labs as a way of confirming its position as a major crypto investment firm.
It currently has 41 crypto firms in its portfolio, including Autograph, Cryptokitties and OpenSea, the NFT platform where Bored Ape projects can be bought and sold.
Bored Ape NFTs are the second most traded on the OpenSea marketplace, behind Clone X-Takashi Murakami, with US$1bn, or 380,821 Ethereum (ETH), in total traded volume.
Celebrities Justin Bieber and Paris Hilton have publicly confirmed that they own Bored Ape NFTs as the hype over digital art has rocketed in the last 12 months, evidenced by trading volume on OpenSea growing from US$20,000 per day last year, to more than US$5bn.
