Cannabis is one of the industries that boomed during the pandemic, as recent studies show that marijuana use in the United States has increased to record levels. Our new research focuses on US companies that support or are involved in medicinal and recreational marijuana research, production, distribution, and sale.

Overview

Cannabis is the world’s most known and commonly cultivated and used drug. Marijuana sales in the US raised to $17.5 Billion and are expected to reach $43 Billion by 2025 and $85 billion in sales by 2030.

Thirty-six states and four territories have legalized cannabis for medicinal use as of June 2021. Medical cannabis has been approved to treat depression, social anxiety, cancer, epilepsy, and others. Industrial hemp, a cannabis-derived product, is also used in various products, including health foods, organic body care, apparel, building materials, biofuels, and composite plastics

According to recent studies, 51% of the people taking part in the research between ages 18 to 25 have tried marijuana at least in their lifetime, and 34.8% have used it within the last month. New Frontier Research report predicts that by 2025, 5.4 million Americans, or 2.4 percent of the adult population in the US, will be registered patients in medical marijuana states.

New Frontier Data shows that cannabis capital funding has more than tripled this year to $6 billion, indicating greater confidence in the cannabis market’s expected fast growth. There are 119 investments over 1,433 funding rounds, with the most popular types being Seed, post-IPO equity, Series A, and Debt Financing, according to Crunchbase’s Hub data.  

Some of the factors that contributed to the industry’s growth are the COVID-19 pandemic (many research show that during the lockdown, more users increased rather than decreased cannabis consumption); more customers entering mature markets such as California, Colorado, and Oregon; states such as Illinois and Arizona established new adult-use markets.

As cannabis rapidly became a mainstream product, many companies have focused on building strong brands and enhancing their marketing strategies. Branding in the cannabis industry is more complicated than many others due to the social stigma associated with marijuana. The various regulations and restrictions to characters and image use that might appeal to younger generations have further made it difficult for companies to reach audiences via traditional techniques.

In our name picks section, we have selected brands with a strong identity and innovative designs that have moved from the traditional and widely acceptable as a default logo for the industry (the green cannabis leaf) and have focused on making cannabis products more acceptable, respectable and normal.

We expect the value of cannabis-related domain names to rise in tandem with investor interest in the cannabis industry. Apart from the well-known cannabis-associated terms as “pot” and “weed”, Wikipedia has published a list of related keywords that can be incorporated in the domain name. Selecting the right domain name for their business is a crucial part of any brand. Companies which do not pay attention to choosing an appropriate domain name often face difficulties in branding and marketing their company as it grows. Some businesses choose to rebrand at a later date, incurring financial and operational costs, as well as risks and friction with their existing audience and investors. This is why it is preferable to initially invest in a high-quality premium cannabis domain rather than search for one at a later stage.

Namepicks

Marley Natural

Marley Natural is the official cannabis brand of Bob Marley. The company is a sub-organization of Privateer Holdings, which recently merged with the Canadian cannabis giant Tilray. Marley Natural was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in the Greater New York Area, Northeastern US. Seattle-based agency Heckler Associates created the logo and packaging design of the company’s product line of hemp seed body care products and a collection of high-end accessories. Marley Natural has invested in the exact brand match MarleyNatural.com, making the most out of its marketing across channels and avoiding security risks.

Kiva Confections

Kiva Confections creates new ways to consume cannabis to nourish, enhance, and improve their lives. Kristi Knoblich and Scott Palmer founded the company in 2010 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Western US. Kiva Confections has raised a total of $12.3M in funding over two rounds. San Francisco agency MINE is responsible for the vintage-style company’s branding. Kiva Confections is operating on KivaConfections.com. Kiva Confections had some legal deals with a company called Kiva Health around the trademark of the name KIVA. The exact brand match Kiva.com is owned by a financial non-profit, Kiva, which also owns the .org.

Pax Labs

PAX is an industry leader in the design and development of innovative and high-quality vaporizers. The company has reached Unicorn status with a total of $541.7 million raised in funding over seven rounds. In 2019, working with the G7 marketing agency, PAX created a first-of-its-kind activation program targeting music fans 21+ and displayed the company’s products at local music festivals. Customers could choose from a variety of designs to personalize and engrave on their PAX device. PAX has secured a valuable three letters exact brand match domain name Pax.com. Three letter .com domain names are extremely rare due to their unique qualities and limited supply, and most are owned by global brands.

LeafLink 

LeafLink is a cannabis B2B wholesale management platform that connects brands and retailers. Founded in 2015 in the Greater New York Area, Northeastern US, LeafLink has raised a total of $339 million in funding over six rounds. Works Progress Design redesigned the company’s logo in 2017 to support name recognition, adding a collaboration element speaking to LeafLink’s core strength, the community.

Leaflink.com is the domain name this startup has chosen to operate on; it perfectly matches their brand name, and the .com extension is what visitors intuitively lean towards when typing a web address.

Dutchie

Dutchie is an all-in-one technology platform that runs dispensary operations and offers customers secure and convenient access. The Unicorn startup has closed four funding rounds totaling $253 million. According to PrivCo, Dutchie has a post-money valuation in the range of $10M to $50M as of September 2018. Dutchie has incorporated the cannabis leaf (a default marijuana logo) in its brand presentation.

Dutchie has further strengthened its brand position by securing an exact brand match domain name, Dutchie.com. The term “Dutchie” is a reference with cannabis users for a blunt stuffed with marijuana and rolled in a wrapper from a Dutch Masters cigar. The name also sounds fun and familiar, making it a perfect choice for the brand.

Highlights

One hundred and sixty-seven companies out of one hundred and ninety have chosen to operate on the .com extension. GoDaddy’s data shows about 70% of people in the U.S. buy .com domains, with everything else combining for 30% of the market. The secondary market is even more lopsided: It’s about 90% .com domains, 10% everything else.

One hundred and three Cannabis Companies out of one hundred and ninety operate on the exact brand match domains. This ensures their brand is well protected online, avoids traffic and email leaks, and confusion amongst their customers and business partners.

Five companies use a dash in their domain name.

.org extension is a preferred choice by nine companies. The domain name org is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) which stands for “organization”, it is oftentimes used for charities and non-profit organizations. 

While we make every effort to ensure the data on our site is accurate, complete, and up-to-date, we cannot guarantee its reliability. Our data is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or other advice. We strongly recommend that you independently verify any information before relying on it.

Other resources

• The Benefits of Premium Domain Names for SMEs
• What Domain Extension is Best for a Startup?
• 10 Entrepreneurs Share Their Thoughts on How to Build a Strong Brand Online
• Is It Worth Paying for a Premium Domain Name?

How does your brand name match your company vision? What new horizons can a better name open? Get in touch if you feel your brand deserves a better name, we are always happy to help.

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