Afilias purchases StartingDot domains .archi, .bio and .ski

Registry now owns three more fresh top level domains.

Domain name firm Afilias has purchased three top level domain names and plans to acquire many more.

The firm disclosed today that it has purchased StartingDot, the firm behind .archi, .bio and .ski. (Learn more regarding StartingDot and .Ski in this podcast.)

StartingDot has resisted the trend of offering dirt-cheap domain names. GoDaddy is right now charging over $70 for each of StartingDot’s domain names.

.Bio is StartingDot’s most-registered domain name with regarding 15,000 domain names in the zone.

Afilias hopes to acquire many more top level domain names and has even set up a special email address for top level domain owners to start discussions: [email protected].

Unlike many of its registry back-end peers, the firm applied for many top level domain names that it now runs. It is making an end-to-end play following acquiring domain name registrar 101Domain.

The registry is in a bit of a precarious position. It receives over $30 million annually for managing the backend services of .org, but that contract has been put out to bid. It tried to raise $100 million in an IPO in 2014, but canceled those plans.