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When
Hilco Digital Assets (HDA) Managing
Director (and pioneering premium domain
broker) Andrew Miller contacted me
to let me know Hilco was about to announce
a $10 million strategic investment
in SquadHelp.com
I immediately realized I needed to learn
a lot more about the company to
understand why HDA was placing such a big
bet on them.
Like
most people in the domain business I was
familiar with the SquadHelp name, knew the
company founded by CEO Darpan Munjal operated
a popular aftermarket domain sales
platform and also helped major
corporations make smart naming, branding
and marketing decisions. However, when I
got a closer look at everything SquadHelp
was doing I was astounded by what
Darpan and his team have built and where
they are headed now (a journey that will
be accelerated considerably by HDA's
investment, as well as the formation of a
joint venture partnership with HDA to
launch a unique curated marketplace for
top-tier premium domains). Miller,
armed with decades of experience in this
arena, is joining the Squadhelp Board of
Directors to help make all of Munjal's visionary
plans a reality.
While
there is a long learning curve in becoming
a successful domain investor, the mechanics
for buying and selling names has always
been pretty simple. You acquire domains
and list them on the major marketplaces
or, if the names are good enough to be
accepted, place them in the hands of a
good broker with a solid track record.
However, when I saw SquadHelp's advanced
array of selling, naming and branding
services (all of which are being
increasingly powered by AI,
including a Business
Name Generator and advanced
name discovery tools), it was like going
from a black & white world to one
filled with color. It didn't take long
to understand why SquadHelp now serves
more than 45,000 customers
including some of the world's biggest corporations,
including Dell, Delta, Hilton,
Kraft Heinz, Nestle
and Pepsi, to name just a few.
Clients
of all sizes are drawn to
Squadhelp's cutting-edge branding
services, including Naming
Contests, Audience
Testing and a Brandable
Domain Marketplace that
includes the world’s largest collection
of expert-curated brandable domain names
for sale. They also work with over
400,000 branding and design creatives around
the world, insuring that customers have
multiple options to choose from in every
aspect of crafting an unforgettable
business identity.
That creative
talent is the engine that has made
SquadHelp's innovative Naming Contests
so successful. They also benefit from
gaming features that keep creatives
engaged. When a client is looking for a
name they can start a contest with a cash
prize set aside for the eventual winner.
While creatives are submitting name ideas
the client gets feedback on the
submissions and can have them audience
tested to see how they are likely to
be received by consumers. |
Darpan
Munjal
SquadHelp Founder & CEO
Andrew
Miller
Hilco Digital Assets Managing Director |
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They can also
have logos designed and have names Trademark
researched to make sure there
are no issues on that front. When the
client picks their favorite name its
creator receives the prize payment.
That is not
the only avenue for finding the perfect
name either. A client can dial it up a
notch with SquadHelp's Agency
Managed Contests that combine
the power of crowdsourcing with the rich
experience of their branding consultants.
That provides a complete agency-level
experience at a fraction of Agency
costs. Yet another option is SquadHelp's curated
marketplace where over 175,000
brandable domains are available for purchase.
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Image
from Bigstock |
Of
course, our audience of domain
investors will be particularly
interested in how to sell
domains on SquadHelp. You can
open a free account and get
all of those details here,
including information on
commissions for the various levels
of service SquadHelp offers. The
company has both a high end curated
platform (on which only 1
out of 10 submitted domains is
accepted) and a standard
platform that allows any name
to be listed with a commission
rate of just 7.5%. That low
rate includes the use of
SquadHelp's AI tools,
including Domain
Insights for any
domain name entered and an amazing
Brand
Alignment tool that creates
a description for the domain
(detailing why that name has
value) and suggests branding
guidelines as well as tagline
ideas for the domain. SquadHelp |
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makes
these advanced tools available
because they increase the
sell-through rate which, of
course, benefits everyone.
SquadHelp also offers white
label technology that
lets sellers and partners create
store fronts for domains based
upon themes and industries. |
The $10
million investment from Hilco Digital
Asserts is the first outside money SquadHelp
has accepted. Darpan, whose goal is to
make SquadHelp the world's #1 branding destination,
told us why he felt HDA was the right
company to work with. "In recent
years, I have been approached by many VC
firms for a potential investment,"
Darpan said. "However it was
important for me to partner with someone
who brings significant strategic value
in addition to the financial investment.
This partnership will allow us to tap into
the extensive expertise of Hilco Digital
Assets in the ultra-premium domains
category. We will also benefit
significantly from the vast influence and
market leadership of Hilco
Global and other Hilco
companies such as Hilco
Streambank. Additionally,
Andrew's strategic focus and deep
experience with digital assets make
him an invaluable addition to the
Squadhelp board."
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With
respect to how Munjal will deploy
the new funding, he told us, "As
a bootstrapped business, we have
always reinvested all of our
revenue back into technology
and marketing. I see a
significant opportunity to disrupt
the naming/branding industry and
this investment will allow us to
accelerate our plans to deliver
on our vision. The funds will be
utilized to expand our core team,
boost investments in tech and AI,
and significantly scale up our
marketing efforts. We will also be
launching several new offerings that
I believe will be truly
game-changing."
Andrew
Miller added, "We started Hilco
Digital Assets to rapidly become a
disruptor in the digital asset space,
with a focus on domain
names. Hilco and its partners
have a decades long track
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Image
from Bigstock |
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record
of investing in and managing hundreds
of millions of dollars in domain
name transactions.
Leveraging Hilco Streambank
category leadership in intangible
asset disposition for corporate
America, and Hilco
Global’s position as
the world's preeminent authority
on maximizing the value of assets,
we are confident that Squadhelp is
positioned to be the go to
destination for acquiring,
selling, and testing brandable
assets." |
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