Backblaze Named Finalist in Most Innovative Data Storage Solution of SiliconANGLE Media’s 2026 Tech Innovation CUBEd Awards

Key Terms

cloud object storage technical

Cloud object storage is a way to save and retrieve large amounts of digital data—like photos, video, backups, or logs—by breaking items into self-contained “objects” stored in a remote, internet-accessible system rather than on a local hard drive. Investors care because it underpins many modern online services and can drive recurring revenue, scale cheaply as data grows, and affect a company's costs and risk exposure to outages or data breaches, much like a warehouse that must be secure and reliably accessible.

ai technical

Artificial intelligence (AI) is technology that enables machines to mimic human thinking and learning, allowing them to analyze information, recognize patterns, and make decisions. For investors, AI matters because it can improve how businesses operate, create new products, or identify opportunities faster and more accurately than humans alone, potentially impacting company success and market trends.

machine learning (ml) technical

Machine learning (ML) is a way computers can automatically find patterns and make decisions based on large amounts of data, without being explicitly programmed for each task. For investors, it matters because it helps identify trends, predict future outcomes, and improve decision-making, much like how a seasoned expert might spot opportunities by recognizing subtle clues. This technology enables smarter analysis and more informed investment choices.

high performance compute (hpc) technical

High performance compute (HPC) is a system that links many powerful processors so they work together to solve very large or complex problems much faster than a single computer, like a pit crew servicing a race car to keep it at top speed. For investors, HPC matters because it enables quicker product development, more accurate financial or scientific modeling, and scalable services that can drive revenue growth, reduce time-to-market, and create competitive advantage—or require significant capital and operating costs.

egress fees financial

Egress fees are charges a company pays when it moves data out of a service provider’s network or cloud storage to another location. For investors, these costs matter because they can be recurring and scale with usage, shrinking profit margins or making customers think twice about switching providers—similar to a heavy toll on a frequently used bridge that raises the effective cost of doing business and can affect revenue and customer retention.

b2b technical

Business-to-business (B2B) describes companies that sell products or services to other businesses rather than to individual consumers. For investors, B2B models often mean larger, repeatable contracts and revenue tied to corporate budgets, which can produce steadier, more predictable cash flow; think of a parts supplier selling regular batches to a factory rather than a shop selling single items to walk-in customers, so customer concentration and contract length matter.

b2b2c technical

A B2B2C model is a go-to-market approach where a company sells products or services to other businesses that then deliver those goods or offer them to end consumers, so the company reaches final customers through partners rather than directly. For investors it matters because this setup can speed up customer reach and reduce marketing costs but also adds dependency on partners, affecting revenue growth, profit margins and how predictable future sales are — like a manufacturer selling through a chain of retailers instead of opening its own stores.

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Backblaze, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLZE), the high-performance cloud storage platform for the AI era, today announced that it has been named a finalist in the Most Innovative Data Storage Solution of SiliconANGLE Media’s 2026 Tech Innovation CUBEd Awards.

Backblaze: theCUBE Technology Innovation Awards - Most Innovative Data Storage Solution Finalist for 2026

B2 Overdrive redefines cloud object storage by eliminating the traditional trade-off between cost and performance. With the best price-to-performance value in the industry, it delivers up to 1Tbps of sustained throughput for AI, machine learning (ML), and high performance compute (HPC) workloads, offering hyperscaler-level throughputs at a fraction of the cost—with no egress fees or complex pricing tiers. Its high-capacity architecture enables organizations to handle massive datasets efficiently, making enterprise-scale, strategic storage more accessible than ever.

"In the AI era, data needs to move fast to wherever the GPUs are. Traditional cloud providers make that process slow and costly. B2 Overdrive is designed for blistering speed at a fraction of the price," said Gleb Budman, CEO of Backblaze. "Being named a finalist for Most Innovative Data Storage Solution by SiliconANGLE shows how we're changing the cloud storage landscape."

Brought to you by theCUBE, the Tech Innovation CUBEd Awards celebrate the world’s most forward-thinking companies, pioneering leaders, and breakthrough technologies that are redefining what’s possible. Spanning categories from AI innovation and product development to company growth and leadership excellence, the Awards spotlight the wide-ranging contributions of organizations and individuals driving the evolution of B2B and B2B2C technology. Backblaze B2 Overdrive earned recognition as a finalist from a highly competitive pool of nominees, evaluated by a panel of industry experts and technology leaders.

“The finalists in this year’s Tech Innovation CUBEd Awards are some of the most ambitious and effective innovators in technology today,” said Dave Vellante, co-founder and co-CEO of SiliconANGLE Media. “Each company, product, and leader recognized has demonstrated significant vision and execution in shaping the future of B2B and B2B2C technology.”

B2 Overdrive sets itself apart with transparent pricing and seamless data mobility. By removing hidden fees and providing flexible deployment options, it allows teams to scale, innovate, and deploy AI, ML, and high-performance computing workloads with predictable cost and performance, transforming cloud storage into a strategic enabler rather than a constraint.

For more information visit https://www.thecube.net/awards.

About Backblaze

Backblaze (NASDAQ: BLZE) gives businesses the freedom to innovate without limits by removing the barriers of lock-in, complexity, and cost. Our high-performance cloud object storage accelerates AI workflows, powers data-heavy applications, streamlines media management, and protects critical data. As an award-winning independent cloud, we provide unparalleled levels of interoperability that enable over 500,000 of our customers to reach and serve hundreds of millions of end users in 175 countries around the world. For more information, please go to www.backblaze.com.

About SiliconANGLE Media

SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, bringing together cutting-edge technology, influential content, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — such as those established in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — SiliconANGLE Media transforms the way technology companies connect with their target markets. Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a powerful ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands, with a reach of 15+ million elite tech professionals, 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni, 4+ million SiliconANGLE readers and 250,000+ social media subscribers. The company's new, proprietary theCUBE AI LLM is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging CUBE365's neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260128448443/en/

Press Contact:

Yev Pusin

Head of Communications

press@backblaze.com

Source: Backblaze, Inc.