In previous editions of Domain Data, we have given you some extremely valuable data about the type of domain names that startups buy, which domain extensions are most popular and more. Today, we wanted to bring you something slightly different. Here, we will be profiling seven recently funded startups that have upgraded their domain names within the past year or so.
The data from this article was produced thanks to Crunchbase Pro and DomainIQ.
Tulip.com - Tulip Retail
Founded in 2013, Tulip Retail is a cloud-based retail platform created by Canadian entrepreneur Ali Asaria. Since 2013, the company has raised over $51 million in funding including a gigantic $40 million funding round in August 2017.
Originally based on Tulip.io, the company acquired the domain Tulip.com from former @DomainSherpa publisher @Michael Cyger, with the WHOIS listing changing in August 2017. There are no indications as to the price that Tulip paid to acquire Tulip.com, but based on similar sales, it could be well into the six-figure range.
Cover.com - Cover
The term “Cover” could be synonymous with insurance, with many different insurance companies using the term. One company that took the step to acquire Cover.com is California-based app creator Cover. This business uses a mobile application to allow its users to ensure anything, simply by taking a picture of it.
In August 2017, Elliot Silver noticed that Cover had upgraded from UseCover.com to Cover.com. The premium one-word domain was previously owned by Digimedia, a company that owns a portfolio full of incredible brand names such as Dark.com, Cook.com and Bed.com. The sales price for Cover.com is unknown, but the transfer looks to have taken place just a month or so after Cover announced the completion of an $8 million series A funding round.
Discord.com - Discord
Discord encourages its users to ditch Skype in favour of its all-in-one voice and text chat app for gamers. With over nine million daily users and over two hundred million messages sent per day, the app has gained popularity in the gaming community. The company is popular with investors too, since Discord has raised a total of $79.3 million including a $50 million venture funding round in June 2017.
The team at Discord initially used the domain rule_violation.com, but it looks like the company decided to buy Discord.com earlier this year.
ShapeShift.com - ShapeShift
Recently, we brought you the news that cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift had finally acquired ShapeShift.com from a Californian pilates studio. Before switching to ShapeShift.com, the digital asset exchange had been using ShapeShift.io.
According to ShapeShift CEO, Erik Voorhees, the company paid around $25,000 to acquire this domain. Since 2014, ShapeShift has raised close to $13 million in funding including a $10.4 million series A round in March 2017.
Nio.com - Nio
Founded in 2014 as NextEV, Chinese car company Nio has designed an electric vehicle that will allegedly re-define the user-experience, and deliver enjoyment beyond expectation. Nio is backed with a total of $1.1 billion in funding, including venture funding from Baidu and Tencent.
According to WHOIS history, Nio purchased Nio.io in October 2016, possibly through Afternic. Nio.com was used by NIO Designs until it was acquired in 2016, around the same time that the company bought Nio.io. It’s interesting to note that Nio decided to host their main website on Nio.io rather than Nio.com.
Measure.com - Measure
The final company on our list upgraded from a .AERO domain to a .COM. Drone service company Measure was founded in 2014 and quickly raised $500,000 in seed funding before going on to raise more than $20 million to date.
Measure started life on the domain Measure.aero and stayed with that name until April 2017 when the company purchased Measure.com from a company called Remote Measurement Systems that had recently closed down. Measure have now fully moved to Measure.com, although the company’s Crunchbase profile still shows Measure.aero as their domain.
The data from this article was produced thanks to Crunchbase Pro and DomainIQ.
Tulip.com - Tulip Retail
Founded in 2013, Tulip Retail is a cloud-based retail platform created by Canadian entrepreneur Ali Asaria. Since 2013, the company has raised over $51 million in funding including a gigantic $40 million funding round in August 2017.
Originally based on Tulip.io, the company acquired the domain Tulip.com from former @DomainSherpa publisher @Michael Cyger, with the WHOIS listing changing in August 2017. There are no indications as to the price that Tulip paid to acquire Tulip.com, but based on similar sales, it could be well into the six-figure range.
Cover.com - Cover
The term “Cover” could be synonymous with insurance, with many different insurance companies using the term. One company that took the step to acquire Cover.com is California-based app creator Cover. This business uses a mobile application to allow its users to ensure anything, simply by taking a picture of it.
Discord.com - Discord
Discord encourages its users to ditch Skype in favour of its all-in-one voice and text chat app for gamers. With over nine million daily users and over two hundred million messages sent per day, the app has gained popularity in the gaming community. The company is popular with investors too, since Discord has raised a total of $79.3 million including a $50 million venture funding round in June 2017.
The team at Discord initially used the domain rule_violation.com, but it looks like the company decided to buy Discord.com earlier this year.
ShapeShift.com - ShapeShift
Recently, we brought you the news that cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift had finally acquired ShapeShift.com from a Californian pilates studio. Before switching to ShapeShift.com, the digital asset exchange had been using ShapeShift.io.
According to ShapeShift CEO, Erik Voorhees, the company paid around $25,000 to acquire this domain. Since 2014, ShapeShift has raised close to $13 million in funding including a $10.4 million series A round in March 2017.
Nio.com - Nio
Founded in 2014 as NextEV, Chinese car company Nio has designed an electric vehicle that will allegedly re-define the user-experience, and deliver enjoyment beyond expectation. Nio is backed with a total of $1.1 billion in funding, including venture funding from Baidu and Tencent.
According to WHOIS history, Nio purchased Nio.io in October 2016, possibly through Afternic. Nio.com was used by NIO Designs until it was acquired in 2016, around the same time that the company bought Nio.io. It’s interesting to note that Nio decided to host their main website on Nio.io rather than Nio.com.
Measure.com - Measure
The final company on our list upgraded from a .AERO domain to a .COM. Drone service company Measure was founded in 2014 and quickly raised $500,000 in seed funding before going on to raise more than $20 million to date.
Measure started life on the domain Measure.aero and stayed with that name until April 2017 when the company purchased Measure.com from a company called Remote Measurement Systems that had recently closed down. Measure have now fully moved to Measure.com, although the company’s Crunchbase profile still shows Measure.aero as their domain.
