Backblaze Raises $5 Million

Backblaze, Inc., an online backup provider, have inked a deal with TMT Investments Plc to obtain $5 million in equity funding.

Backblaze is already profitable and growing and this funding will be used to accelerate hiring for product development, global marketing, and partnerships.

To date, it has been primarily self-funded with the TMT investment being the first venture funding taken by the company.

TMT Investments was established in 2010 for the purpose of making investments in the technology, media and telecommunications sector, with specific emphasis on internet-based businesses. It funds companies operating in growth areas that have a potential to become multinational businesses.

"TMT is an excellent partner for Backblaze. Their team is comprised of successful entrepreneurs and operators and their experience in supporting high growth companies that are targeting a multinational marketplace will be invaluable," said Gleb Budman CEO and co-founder of Backblaze. "Today’s investment will help us reach the 90% of people who don’t regularly backup their PCs and Macs."

The TMT investment will be in two equal distributions, one immediately and the second on the one year anniversary of the transaction. At that time, TMT’s equity stake will be worth between 13.33% and 19.05% of the company depending on Backblaze’s performance. Igor Shoifot, strategic adviser at TMT Investments, will be added as an observer to the Backblaze board.

The transaction has been completed.

"Backblaze has a proven high-quality service and an impressive growth rate," stated Alexander Selegenev, executive director at TMT Investments, he continued. "TMT aims to invest in spectacular opportunities, and we believe Backblaze is one of those. The company is a leading player in the sizable and fast-growing online data backup market, and we have been impressed by their team, the technology they have built, and the fact they have achieved profitability on a lean budget. We look forward to a great partnership with Backblaze."

The hallmark of the Backblaze service is how easy it is to set-up and use. There is no need to select which files to back up as all data is continuously and automatically backed up, and it provides unlimited cloud storage for backing up files, including connected external drives. If data is lost via a hard drive crash, a stolen or lost system, or a file or folder being accidently deleted, that data can be restored for free from a web browser. Users also have the option of having their data sent on a USB flash drive or an external hard drive for an additional charge. The service also includes the Locate My Computer feature that assists in locating a stolen or lost system.

Based in San Mateo, CA and founded in 2007, Backblaze stores nearly 40,000,000GB of data for its customers on its own purpose-built cloud storage system. The company backups 100,000,000 files per day and in 2011 recovered 600,000,000 files for its customers. The online backup service is localized in 11 languages and backs up customers in over 100 countries.

Backblaze provides a free trial and automatically backups data on a PC or Mac for $5/month, $50/year, or $95/ two years.