Yuga Labs, creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, has raised $450 million in a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, which has been bullish on crypto and Web3, investing in blockchain firm Solana Labs, game developer Sky Mavis and NFT marketplace OpenSea. Yuga has been busy, too, acquiring Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks collection of uniquely generated characters and Meebits library of collectible 3D characters. Collectively, Bored Apes and CryptoPunks are estimated to be worth about $3.6 billion at current prices. The funding round — which includes investments by Samsung and Google Ventures — gives Yuga what it says is a $4 billion valuation. Continue reading Bored Ape Yacht Club Creator Yuga Labs Raises $450 Million

Los Angeles-based avatar technology firm Genies Inc. has secured Bob Iger as an investor and board member, a coup for the five-year-old startup, which crafts celebrity avatars and also allows people to create their own avatars, fashion, worlds and experiences. The move into the metaverse is Iger’s first entertainment play since exiting Disney in December after 15 years as CEO. Genies says Iger will help “navigate its mission to empower humans to create their own avatar ecosystems” in Web3 — including avatars, fashion lines, immersive experiences and virtual worlds.  Continue reading Bob Iger’s Act 2: Into the Metaverse with Avatar Firm Genies