20 Skyrocketing Data Storage Startups (2023)
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As a vital component of IT, the world of data storage continues to evolve.
The global next generation data storage market size was at $77.5 billion in 2021.
By the end of 2028, it’s set to hit $208.1 billion, at a CAGR of 17.9%.
Advancements in this industry — courtesy of rising data storage startups — is the reason why it still continues to grow. We’ve rounded up the best companies from this space that are worth keeping an eye on in 2023.
1. LucidLink
5-year search growth: 180%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2016
Location: San Francisco, CA
Funding: $39.6M (Series B)
What they do: A file storage as a service company, LucidLink is known for their cloud-based network-attached storage (NAS) system. The startup provides a universal distributed file system, allowing users to store objects in the cloud and use it as local storage. Names like Baseline Ventures, BrightCap Ventures, and BainCapital have invested in this company.
2. Internxt
5-year search growth: 633%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2020
Location: Valencia, Spain
Funding: $2M (Corporate Round)
What they do: Internxt is a European startup founded in 2017 that offers secure cloud storage solutions, striving to make privacy and security the cornerstone of their business. Their platform, Internxt Drive, utilizes end-to-end encryption and decentralized storage to ensure the protection of user data. The company aims to make data privacy accessible to everyone and to provide a more sustainable alternative to traditional cloud storage providers.
3. Wasabi Technologies
5-year search growth: 244%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2015
Location: Boston, MA
Funding: $549.1M (Series D)
What they do: Wasabi Technologies offers “hot cloud object storage” for businesses. According to the company, their solutions are designed to offer complete protection against ransomware. Wasabi Technologies won the 2021 CRN Annual Report Card (ARC) Award in the “Cloud Storage” category.
4. OwnBackup
5-year search growth: 180%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2012
Location: Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Funding: $507.3M (Series E)
What they do: A data recovery startup, OwnBackup provides cloud data protection for Salesforce customers (via generating daily backups of business-critical PaaS and SaaS data.) Furthermore, it offers tools designed to help with data recovery. OwnBackup currently has more than 3700 customers. They won the Salesforce Appy Award in 2018.
5. Cloudian
5-year search growth: -71%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2011
Location: San Mateo, CA
Funding: $233.1M (Series Unknown)
What they do: Cloudian provides object and file storage solutions for enterprises. The company specializes in Amazon Simple Storage Service S3 object storage. Their product is designed to enable companies to simplify unstructured data. It’s estimated that the company earns up to $100M in revenue every year.
6. Rewind
5-year search growth: -4%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2015
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Funding: $80.1M (Series B)
What they do: A data protection startup, Rewind provides data backups for SaaS platforms. It’s also designed to help seamlessly create copies of cloud data. More than 100,000 organizations across 100 countries currently use Rewind.
7. Qumulo
5-year search growth: -23%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2012
Location: Seattle, WA
Funding: $347.3M (Series E)
What they do: Qumulo offers a file data platform for multi-cloud environments. It’s designed to replace legacy systems that handle large volumes of data. So far, more than 200 billion files have been managed on Qumulo. According to the startup, Qumulo was named a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Distributed File Systems & Object Storage for 3 years in a row.
8. InCountry
5-year search growth: -100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2019
Location: San Francisco, CA
Funding: $40M (Series A)
What they do: A data residency-as-a-service company, InCountry provides data compliance for international businesses on a global level. The platform is designed to help multinational companies store international data locally. As of now, InCountry operates in 65 countries. The startup raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Global Founders Capital and Arbor Ventures, with participation from Charles River Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, and Felicis Ventures.
9. JetStream Software
5-year search growth: -100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2016
Location: San Jose, CA
Funding: $11.5M (Series A)
What they do: JetStream Software offers data management solutions for hybrid cloud computing. According to the startup, their hypervisor-integrated solutions can run on infrastructures with multiple cloud services and data centers. Their products include the “JetStream DR” (for business continuity and disaster recovery) and the “JetStream Migrate” (for live migration). JetStream Software was one of the winners of the Big50-2020 Challenge held by Startup 50.
10. Lightbits Lab
5-year search growth: 0%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2016
Location: San Jose, CA
Funding: $162.8M (Series Unknown)
What they do: Lightbits Lab specializes in software-defined storage. Their solutions are designed to enable customers to allocate resources without any dependency between storage and compute. According to their website, Lightbits Lab increased their revenue to $16.8M this past year.
11. Ondat
5-year search growth: 1500%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2015
Location: London, UK
Funding: $20M (Series B)
What they do: A software-defined storage provider, Ondat offers persistent storage solutions for Kubernetes. Their platform is designed to enable cloud-native workflows. According to the company, Ondat has over 5,000 storage clusters installed worldwide.
12. CATALOG
5-year search growth: -100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2016
Location: Boston, MA
Funding: $54.3M (Series B)
What they do: CATALOG is a developer of DNA-based mass storage and computation solutions. Specializing in digital data archiving, their platform can be used to store information in DNA molecules. Estimates put CATALOG’s annual revenue at $5M.
13. Filebase
5-year search growth: -100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2019
Location: Boston, MA
Funding: $2M (Seed)
What they do: Filebase provides Blockchain-powered, cloud-managed object storage services that are compatible with S3. Called the “Managed Object Storage,” the platform is supposedly suitable for cloud-native applications. According to their website, Filebase can result in average cost savings of 94%.
14. Fungible
5-year search growth: 42%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2015
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Funding: $310.9M (Series C)
What they do: Fungible manufactures data center hardware and software. The startup is known for its low-latency chips designed to offer high throughput. In 2019, Fungible raised $200 million in a Series C funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, with participation from existing investors and Norwest Venture Partners.
15. Reduxio
5-year search growth: -100%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2012
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Funding: $58.4M (Series C)
What they do: Reduxio (also known as “Ionir”) offers a Kubernetes container-native data storage platform. It allows users to create data clouds for all of their applications. In 2018, Reduxio won the Fortress Cyber Security Award.
16. Burlywood
5-year search growth: 300%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2015
Location: Longmont, CO
Funding: $19.1M (Series Unknown)
What they do: An IT company, Burlywood develops storage solutions for cloud applications and hyper-scale data centers. They were the first to create a flash controller architecture software called the “FlashOS™.” Burlywood raised $10.6 million in a Series A funding round led by investors John Scarano and Michael Jones, with participation from Acadia Woods Partners.
17. Storj
5-year search growth: -52%
Search groth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2014
Location: Atlanta, GA
Funding: $35.4M (Initial Coin Offering)
What they do: A blockchain startup, Storj is a developer of decentralized cloud storage (DCS) solutions. Their object storage is designed for developers that prefer full control over their data. The platform also offers drop-in S3 compatibility. The Storj DCS currently has 13,000+ active nodes, with more than 39 billion objects stored on it.
18. Pavilion Data Systems
5-year search growth: 0%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2014
Location: San Jose, CA
Funding: $103M (Series D)
What they do: Pavilion Data System specializes in enterprise storage solutions. Their products include custom-built hardware called the “Pavilion HyperParallel Data Platform™” and a data storage operating system called the “Pavilion HyperOS™ 3.” The startup currently generates up to $100M in revenue each year.
19. WekaIO
5-year search growth: 0%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2014
Location: Campbell, CA
Funding: $293.9M (Series D)
What they do: WekaIO (or Weka.io) offers a parallel file system that is designed specifically for technical computing and AI deep learning. According to the company, their file system is the fastest in the world. WekaIO made it to CRN’s list of the 100 Coolest Cloud Companies for 2021.
20. MinIO
5-year search growth: 135%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2014
Location: Redwood City, CA
Funding: $126.3M (Series B)
What they do: A cloud storage company, MinIO provides object storage solutions compatible with S3. This software-defined platform is open source under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3. The company states that MinIO is the only object storage tech that’s available in every public cloud. Organizations like Standard Chartered, ADP, and The Home Depot use MinIO.
Conclusion
That concludes our list of the hottest data storage startups to follow in 2023.
Breakthroughs in cloud computing, along with on-premise storage components, are paving the way for a brighter future for the data storage industry.
What’s more, the disruptions created in this market are creating new opportunities in other industries as well.