So, someone just bought California.com

california-dot-com

It’s official, California.com has sold as part of a bulk domain sale that landed somewhere in the mid seven-figure range. The company that acquired it, One Planet Ops, isn’t new to the domain game, and they also know how to put monster names like this to work.

“Major domain names like this one don’t often change hands these days,” said Zamani, “so we’re incredibly excited about the enormous potential of California.com—and when it launches we expect it to alter the landscape of our state’s global web presence.”
One Planet’s staffing in California, Zamani added, will increase over time by at least 40 employees working on California.com.
(Source – PR Newswire)

So who the heck is One Planet Ops?

one-planet-ops

They do a lot of things so stick with me as I go through the list. First things first, their largest operating business is BuyerLink.com (formerly Reply.com), a leading locally targeted marketing solution. Their next largest property is MerchantCircle.com, on online network of local business owners. Not surprisingly, along with running businesses of their own they also invest in and incubate startups.

We invest in seed stage emerging technology companies and help founders turn imaginative ideas into thriving businesses. In addition to capital, we provide interested entrepreneurs with incubator services, hands-on coaching and guidance from successful veteran entrepreneurs. (Source – One Planet Ops)

The founder of One Planet ops is Payam Zamani, who is a very successful entrepreneur and angel investor. According to his Crunchbase profile, Zamani has made 8 personal investments and already seen three exits…which any investor can tell you is an incredible hit rate. And, not because I got creepy and did a ton of research on Zamani…but his Crunchbase profile also listed that he has a degree in Environmental Toxicology which goes to show what an under-rated degree this is! I kid.

I think really is likely the most perfect buyer I can think of for a domain like California.com. They have companies in the local business space, know how to build and scale companies, and now they own one of the largest pieces of digital real estate out there. Given that I live in California, it’s also exciting to know that someone’s finally going to put something cool on this domain 😉

Congrats to Zamani and team, bring on California.com!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton