In 2024, the AI sector experienced unprecedented growth, with startups raising billions of dollars in funding and driving innovation across industries. Behind the scenes of these groundbreaking achievements lies a critical but often overlooked factor in their success: domain name strategy.
Crunchbase reported on the largest AI startup funding rounds of 2024, featuring companies that secured significant investments and set new standards for the industry. What domains did these industry leaders choose, and how do these choices contribute to their global impact and recognition?
Databricks: $10 Billion Funding Round
Databricks secured $10 billion in funding at a $62 billion valuation, making it the largest venture capital raise in 2024. The company specialises in data processing and AI solutions, helping businesses efficiently analyse and manage vast amounts of data.
Brand is about how you’re perceived – it’s not something you can define for yourself. It’s crafted over time, through the sum of experiences that people have with your company. By definition, a brand needs this time — about seven years in our case — before it can really be captured and defined in a way that’s credible and true to your roots.
Databricks’ blog post
Databricks is fueled by a deep commitment to collaboration and its profound influence on fostering innovation. The company’s brand name, in harmony with its EBM domain, Databricks.com, serves as a powerful symbol of its overarching vision and mission, a dedication to unity, adaptability, profound insights, and continuous innovation.
OpenAI: $6.6 Billion Funding Round
OpenAI raised $6.6 billion, achieving a valuation of $157 billion. Renowned for ChatGPT and other advanced AI solutions, OpenAI has built a portfolio of over 200 domain names, including variations of its main domain, such as openai.work and openai.fund.
A well-planned domain strategy is essential for maintaining a strong and consistent brand presence. Companies like OpenAI register multiple domains to protect their brand identity from misuse, ensure seamless access for clients and investors by addressing potential typos, and support creative initiatives, such as marketing campaigns or sub-brand launches. OpenAI’s approach demonstrates how strategic domain management enhances brand security, accessibility, and flexibility.
The company has recently expanded its portfolio with the highly valued domain names Chat.com and Sora.com.
xAI: Two $6 Billion Funding Rounds
Elon Musk’s xAI secured $12 billion through two funding rounds in 2024. Focused on generative AI, the company operates under the domain X.AI and has expanded its digital footprint by acquiring Grok.com, a valuable addition to its portfolio.
Grok, xAI’s generative AI chatbot, takes inspiration from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and JARVIS from Iron Man. Designed to deliver advanced AI capabilities, Grok is characterised by its “twist of humour and dash of rebellion.” While the domain Grok.com currently displays a “Coming Soon” message, the chatbot is already available through X.com (formerly Twitter), showcasing xAI’s commitment to integrating innovative AI tools into accessible platforms.
Waymo: $5.6 Billion Funding Round
Waymo, an autonomous vehicle technology company, secured $5.6 billion in funding. As a pioneer in self-driving technology, Waymo continues to push the boundaries of innovation, focusing on safety, efficiency, and the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles. The funding is expected to accelerate the company’s research and development efforts, expand its fleet, and enhance its operational capabilities.
Waymo operates on Waymo.com. Investing in a .com domain name that matches their brand name ensures their brand is secure online and makes it easy for their customers, business partners and investors to reach them.
Anthropic: $4 Billion Funding Round
Founded in 2021 by Daniela Amodei and Dario Amodei, both former senior executives at OpenAI, Anthropic is a fast-growing AI safety and research firm. The company has attracted major investments from industry leaders like Google, Salesforce, and Amazon. Its flagship product, Claude, is an advanced AI assistant designed around Anthropic’s principles of building AI systems that are helpful, trustworthy, and safe.
In 2024, Anthropic raised $4 billion in a single funding round, supported significantly by Amazon. The funding will accelerate Anthropic’s research initiatives, expand its team, and further its mission to create trustworthy AI systems.
Anthropic has secured Anthropic.com for its brand presence online. An Exact Brand Match (EBM) domain name like Anthropic.com is the natural choice of most internet users, making their marketing most effective across all channels.
Anthropic is featured in our Top 100 AI Startups in 2023 by CB Insights and Their Domain Name Choices.
Anduril Industries: $1.5 Billion Funding Round
Anduril Industries, known for its advancements in defence technology, secured $1.5 billion in 2024. The company is focused on developing autonomous military systems and other high-tech solutions to address modern defence challenges. The funding will support growth initiatives such as constructing Arsenal-1, a large-scale production facility for autonomous systems.
Named after Andúril, Aragorn’s mythical sword in “The Lord of the Rings,” which means “Flame of the West” in the novels’ Quenya language, the company underscores its narrative with robust branding. It operates both Anduril.com and AndurilIndustries.com, enhancing online brand protection and making it easier for customers, partners, and investors to find and engage with their brand.
Anduril is featured in our article Defending the Digital Frontier: An Exploration of Domain Name Choices in the Military Tech Industry.
G42: $1.5 Billion Funding Round
G42, an AI holding company based in the United Arab Emirates, received a $1.5 billion strategic investment from Microsoft. Known for its focus on innovative AI applications across various industries, G42 aims to use the funding to strengthen its infrastructure and expand its global reach.
G42 operates under the domain g42.ai, skillfully incorporating a number into its brand identity. Numbers in domain names can be effective when used thoughtfully, and G42 demonstrates this with a concise and memorable name.
For more insights on the use of numbers in domain names and their impact on branding, explore our article, Should Hyphens and Numbers Be Used in Domain Names?.
CoreWeave: $1.1 Billion Funding Round
New-York based CoreWeave is a cloud infrastructure developer providing blockchain and other applications with computing resources. CoreWeave raised $1.1 billion round led by Coatue that valued the company at $19 billion. The funding will be used to scale its infrastructure and meet increasing demand for high-performance AI cloud services.
CoreWeave.com is the domain name this startup has chosen to operate on, it is perfectly matching their brand name and the .com extension is what visitors intuitively lean towards when typing a web address.
Wayve: $1.1 Billion Funding Round
Wayve, a London-based autonomous vehicle technology company, raised $1.1 billion, marking a milestone for the British AI sector. The funding will support the company’s research into embodied AI and the expansion of its fleet of self-driving vehicles.
Wayve has chosen Wayve.ai for its online presence. The .ai domain extension, tied to Anguilla, aligns well with AI-focused companies like Wayve but comes with potential risks associated with country-code domains, such as regulatory changes or governance issues. For more on these considerations, see our article, Risks and Benefits of Using Country Extension Domain Names.
Scale AI: $1 Billion Funding Round
Scale AI, a San Francisco-based data labelling and management company, raised $1 billion in a funding round led by Accel, bringing the company’s valuation to an impressive $13.8 billion. Initially operating on the Scale.ai domain, the company leveraged the .ai extension to emphasize its focus on artificial intelligence.
Recognising the value of a strong online presence, Scale AI later invested in the valuable dictionary-word domain Scale.com. For startups and businesses alike, aligning the domain name with the brand name is a critical step in establishing credibility, trust, and authority in the market.
Xaira Therapeutics: $1 Billion Funding Round
In April 2024, Xaira Therapeutics, a San Francisco-based biotechnology company, secured a landmark $1 billion funding round. The startup brings together experts in AI research, drug development, and venture capital to drive its advanced R&D platform. Incubated by ARCH Venture Partners and Foresite Labs, Xaira has gained strong backing to build on groundbreaking work from David Baker’s lab at the University of Washington School of Medicine, including innovative RFdiffusion and RFantibody models for protein and antibody design.
Robert Nelsen, managing director at ARCH Venture Partners, described the funding as ARCH’s largest initial commitment, emphasizing the transformative potential of AI in drug discovery.
Xaira operates on the exact brand match domain Xaira.com. This ensures their brand is well protected online and avoids traffic and email leaks, as well as confusion amongst their customers and business partners.
The Role of Domains in AI Branding
Among the top 10 AI startups of 2024, seven operate on Exact Brand Match (EBM) domains. The dominance of EBM domains among leading AI startups emphasises their importance as a strategic asset in branding and growth. While .ai domains can highlight a tech-forward identity, investing in a valuable .com domain often ensures a stronger foundation for credibility, scalability, and long-term success. As the AI sector continues to expand, a thoughtful domain strategy remains a vital component for companies looking to distinguish themselves in a competitive landscape.
Whether you’re a small business owner or a large corporation, a strong domain name can help boost your brand and increase your online presence. If you’re ready to take the next step, contact us to learn more about our domain name options and how they can benefit your business.
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