Machines gets .DDS, pockets millions from .store and .blog — Minds +

Firm adds to its cash pile as .dds, .store and .blog are settled.

Fresh top level domain name firm Minds + Machines disclosed today that it has won the contention set for the .dds domain name, beating Google.

DDS is short for “Doctor of Dental Surgery” and is the designation that most U.S. dental schools give graduates. Dentists often display their titles as “Jan Smith, DDS”.

The domain name faces a bit of competition, counting .dentist and .dental.

Minds + Machines also lost a seven party auction for .store and a mammoth nine party auction for .blog.

Considering the price it paid for .dds and its auction proceeds from .store and .blog, plus the modest refunds from ICANN on the latter two, Minds + Machines added $3.4 million cash to its balance sheet.

The firm now has $48 million cash, which makes up regarding 40% of its market capitalization.

All three top level domain names were slated to go to ICANN’s “auctions of last resort” later this month.