Data volumes continue to grow exponentially while the wave of AI applications and agents being implemented require huge amounts of data to operate effectively. As part of CRN’s Stellar Startups for 2025, here are six storage technology startups, founded in 2019 or later, that solution providers should be aware of.
A New Generation Of Storage Vendors
The total volume of digital data created, captured, copied and consumed reached 149 zettabytes, according to Statista, and is expected to grow further to 181 zettabytes by the end of this year driven by the increasing use of IoT devices, real-time data processing and other data-producing IT.
IT management faces the challenge of effectively storing and managing all this data, which businesses are increasingly seeing as a valuable asset. And the proliferation of AI applications and agents, which require huge amounts of data to run effectively, is also spurring the need for storing and managing high-quality data
These trends are driving innovation in the data storage space – and much of that is coming from startups with new data storage technologies and concepts.
As part of CRN’s Stellar Startups for 2025, here are six storage technology startups, founded in 2019 or later, that solution providers should get to know. The following slides include lightly edited company and product descriptions provided by the startups.
Geyser Data
Founded: 2024
Top Executive: Nelson Nahum, CEO and Co-Founder
Geyser Data revolutionizes long-term storage with its cloud-connected Tape-as-a-Service, eliminating infrastructure management hassles and other fees. Designed for simplicity, security, and sustainability, Geyser empowers MSPs and VARs with recurring revenue and seamless integration into S3 workflows. It provides customers with an affordable, air-gapped archive for backups, surveillance, research, and media.
Geyser Data’s Cold Data Cloud is a channel-first, tape-backed archive platform that delivers ultra-low-cost, air-gapped storage with no egress fees. S3-compatible and globally scalable, it integrates seamlessly with hot storage solutions, giving partners a secure, recurring revenue stream for long-term backup, archive, and compliance workloads.
Website: www.geyserdata.com
Leil Storage
Founded: 2022
Top Executive: Aleksandr Ragel, CEO
Leil Storage, based in Estonia, delivers sustainable, scalable data storage using advanced distributed file systems and host-managed SMR drives – ideal for backup, near-line, and archival workloads, and a modern tape replacement for sectors including HPC, research labs, big data silos, healthcare, media, and government.
Leil Storage’s mainstay product is a scalable, energy-efficient system built on the open-source SaunaFS distributed file system, integrating host-managed SMR drives. It supports backup, near-line, and archival storage, targeting HPC, research labs, big data silos, and enterprises seeking a sustainable, cost-effective alternative to tape libraries.
Website: https://leil.io
Lucidity
Founded: 2021
Top Executive: Nitin Bhadauria, Co-CEO and Co-Founder
Lucidity’s cloud storage management platform provides enterprises with real-time visibility, intelligence, automation, and control over their cloud storage estate across AWS, Azure, and GCP—spanning Windows, Linux, and Kubernetes environments—all without operational disruption. Lucidity is a 100-percent channel-focused company, serving large and global enterprises.
Lucidity’s offerings include: AutoScaler, which autonomously right-sizes cloud block storage capacity in real-time without downtime; Lumen, providing advanced intelligence and analytics for deep observability and actionable insights to right-size disk tier; and Assessment, a zero-risk way to evaluate actual cloud storage utilization. The company’s target market is mid-to-large enterprises across all key verticals and personas in IT, FinOps, CloudOps and DevOps.
Website: https://lucidity.cloud/
Object First
Founded: 2021
Top Executive: David Bennett, CEO
Ootbi by Object First offers a ransomware-proof, immutable backup storage appliance for Veeam. It protects against cyberattacks, accidental deletion, and insider threats, and can be set up in 15 minutes without security expertise.
The Ootbi backup storage appliance for Veeam leverages S3 Object Lock and a hardened Linux OS. It delivers up to 8GB/second backup speeds and supports over 7PB of storage capacity.
Object First just reported that bookings in its 2025 third quarter increased 291 percent year over year, its sixth straight quarter of triple-digit growth. The company also recently expanded its consumption model to European markets.
Website: www.objectfirst.com
Slide
Founded: 2025
Top Executive: Michael Fass, CEO
Slide is a modern, security-first BCDR platform built for MSPs. Founded by Datto veterans Austin McChord and Michael Fass, Slide combines speed, simplicity, and security without legacy constraints or restrictive contracts. Backed by leading investors, Slide sees itself as shaping the future of disaster recovery.
Slide offers a Modern Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR) system purpose-built for MSPs. Slide has reimagined BCDR from the ground up by combining modern software, high-performance hardware, and end-to-end encryption at no extra cost. The result is a faster, more secure, more cost-effective solution.
Website: https://slide.tech
Xinnor
Founded: 2022
Top Executive: Dmitry Livshits, CEO
Xinnor is an Israeli-based software development company specializing in data storage, focusing on software RAID technology. Xinnor is known for its product, xiRAID, a patented RAID engine delivering exceptional performance. Xinnor’s solutions are used in various sectors: AI training/inferencing, HPC, media, high-frequency trading, database acceleration, cybersecurity and edge computing applications.
Xinnor’s flagship xiRAID is software-defined RAID optimized for NVMe SSDs. Its patented lockless data path delivers near-raw drive performance in cost-effective parity RAID and accelerates drive rebuilds by 10x compared to alternatives. It’s ideal for AI, HPC, and cloud environments requiring fault-tolerant, high-throughput storage in mission-critical applications.
Website: xinnor.io
