Backblaze

Backblaze is a cloud storage company founded in 2007, known for providing simple, affordable cloud storage and backup services. The company went public in 2021 and serves over 500,000 customers, from individual users to enterprises, with a focus on being a cost-effective alternative to AWS S3.

Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage offers S3-compatible object storage at a fraction of the cost of major cloud providers, with free egress through CDN partnerships (Cloudflare, Fastly). For AI applications, Backblaze provides affordable storage for training datasets, model checkpoints, and generated content — particularly attractive for AI startups and researchers who need large-scale storage without the premium pricing of AWS, Azure, or GCP.

The company also offers Computer Backup, an unlimited personal backup service, and publishes widely-cited hard drive reliability statistics that benefit the entire storage industry. Backblaze's transparent pricing and developer-friendly APIs have made it a popular choice for bootstrapped AI companies managing large datasets on a budget.