Domain Observer Domain Observer
Last week, I noticed that Grain.com had transferred from Tucows to GoDaddy, and the domain name is now registered using GoDaddy’s Whois privacy service. The previous owner of Grain.com was Digimedia, a company that owns a portfolio of exceptional domain name assets.
When I saw the domain transfer and registrant change in my DomainTools Domain Monitor alert email, I tweeted about the sale and guessed who might have acquired Grain.com:
https://t.co/3ydMsztz6t, which has been owned by Digimedia and registered at Tucows, transferred to GoDaddy under Whois privacy possibly indicating a sale. Perhaps coincidentally, a company called Grain (using https://t.co/GZrS0yZnIr) also uses GoDaddy + Whois privacy.
— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) November 25, 2021
It looks like I was wrong. This morning, I noticed that Grain.com is now forwarding to Grain.CO. Grain is a startup that “enables users to record, transcribe, and highlight their zoom calls in real time.” According to Crunchbase, Grain has raised $4 million in funding. Given this important (and likely expensive) acquisition, I would not be surprised if Grain has raised additional funding that was not reported.
I reached out to Digimedia to see if the company would comment about the sale price of Grain.com. Based on previous Digimedia sales I uncovered, I am almost positive the company will not offer any comment about the sale price or terms. My guess is that the domain name was valued into the seven figures, and I would not be surprised if there was an equity stake involved. Given the private nature of both companies, I doubt we will ever know the price or terms.
Acquiring Grain.com was a smart move for Grain. Grain.com would be an upgrade for quite a few companies, and I think it is particularly helpful for the .CO registrant to acquire this asset to help reduce confusion that may have existed for direct navigation and email deliverability.
