YUGA LABS - RISE OF THE APE
From what started two years ago with boring ape JPEGs, Yuga Labs became an industry behemoth with 16 NFT collections in its portfolio. These collections are now responsible for 34.6% of all the trading volume in the NFT industry.
The company’s flagship collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), launched in April 2021, with each NFT doubling as a membership to the community. Inspired by the early crypto adopters who aped in, struck gold, yet always seemed bored – 10,000 Bored Apes were minted for roughly $200 at the time.
The NFT collection sold out in the early morning of May 1st, 2021, and an incredible community began to form almost immediately.
That community soon multiplied with the creation of 10,000 dog companions for the apes (Bored Ape Kennel Club) and 20,000 Mutant Apes (Mutant Ape Yacht Club), half of which were minted via a first-of-its-kind mechanic involving serums.
2022 was a year of rapid growth for Yuga. The Yugaverse expanded beyond BAYC with the announcement of Otherside, a gamified metaverse. Popular NFT collections CryptoPunks, Meebits, and 10KTF also joined the party, bringing new IP, reach, and community to Yuga.
Through all of this growth and innovation, the team has continued to prioritize the web3 values of decentralization and ownership. Yuga has been a pioneer at every turn, including hosting exclusive festivals, events, merch drops, and collaborations accessible to holders of NFTs.
Most notably, Yuga decentralized the IP rights of Bored Apes, Punks, and Meebits, granting holders rights to the underlying art. This created opportunities for the community of NFT holders to leverage the utility of their NFT - creating their own brands and communities.
BAYC has become the world's most recognizable NFT collection and Yuga itself has become the fastest-growing startup in web3.
All roads lead to Otherside – the first metaverse that includes the community in the development process. Otherside rejects the walled gardens and closed networks of traditional gaming spaces in favor of interoperability and access, inviting everyone to play and create.