Yuga Labs Releases Employees Amid Restructuring Effort
- Yuga Labs has confirmed employee layoffs without revealing the number of people affected.
- CEO Daniel Alegre said that the firm took on too much internally, adding that it needs to refocus its priorities.
- The firm seeks additional funding and makes new partners in the process as well.
- Co-founder Greg Solano confirmed that the team at the NFT firm still consists of 120 employees.
Yuga Labs, the creator of famous non-fungible token (NFT) collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), has announced significant layoffs amid a restructuring process going on in the firm. The NFT startup, which is worth around $4 billion, has revealed that the decision comes at a time when the firm is reevaluating its priorities.
On Friday, Yuga Labs shocked the NFT industry by joining the number of companies that have laid off their employees. The firm also eliminated certain roles due to the prevailing unsuitable market conditions. A team email, which was also shared publicly, confirmed the new turn of events at the company.
Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre stated that, as per his beliefs, the firm took on too much internally and added that it needed to refocus its priorities while asking for external funding and making more partners along the way.
“I realized very quickly that there were a number of projects that, while well-intentioned, either spread the team too thin or required execution expertise beyond our core competencies,” he wrote.
Interestingly, Alegre has recently joined Yuga Labs and was previously serving as the President and COO of Activision Blizzard, the firm behind the popular Call of Duty video game series. While joining the NFT firm, Alegre said that he sees “a massive opportunity to define the metaverse in a way that empowers creators and provides users with true ownership of their identity and digital assets.”
While it has not been revealed how many employees have been affected by the layoffs, Alegre confirmed that the restructuring impacts only the employees based in the United States for now, and the firm is still evaluating its international teams.
The co-founder of Yuga Labs, Greg Solano, also commented on the news, stating that the team still comprises more than 120 employees.
“We needed to make some changes to the company in order to make sure we’re set up for long-term success. We’ve been spread quite thin for a while as a company, and while there have been some wins, our execution in other areas hasn’t been up to our standards,” Solano added.
As reported earlier by BitcoinWisdom, the NFT firm recently signed a multiyear deal with Gucci to explore “the intersection between fashion and entertainment in the metaverse.”
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
