(Bloomberg) -- Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Apes Yacht Club collection of NFTs, said it has raised $450 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz while it begins a metaverse project. 

Other investors included Animoca Brands, its subsidiary The Sandbox and the crypto exchange FTX Trading Ltd. Yuga said in a statement that the round values the firm at $4 billion. Andreessen and Animoca have already emerged as big beneficiaries of a Bored Apes-related cryptocurrency, ApeCoin, which debuted last week.

Over the past year, BAYC has become one of the top NFT collections, with $1.4 billion in lifetime sales, according to data tracker DappRadar. Meanwhile Yuga has established itself as one of the top NFT marketers, striking a deal with Animoca to have the apes debut in a game and pulling together exclusive events for purchasers of its digital apes. Ape fans have been putting the digital images to use everywhere from their social-media profiles to a restaurant. 

Yuga plans to use the funds to expand its development team and for joint ventures and partnerships. It recently bought the intellectual property -- as well as numerous NFTs -- of the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections from Larva Labs. Yuga may perhaps build the collections into even bigger brands, with some of the characters debuting in games or on luxury goods.

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