New program delivers predictable cloud storage, meaningful credits, and hands-on human support for early-stage teams

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2026-- Backblaze, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLZE), the high-performance cloud storage platform for the AI era, today announced the launch of Backblaze Flamethrower, a new startup program designed to help early-stage companies build, scale, and reach product-market fit without being slowed down by unpredictable infrastructure costs or complexity.

Flamethrower is built specifically for founders and small teams working on data-heavy products such as AI and machine learning, media, gaming, and SaaS applications. Emphasizing real production infrastructure, practical support, and a founder-first approach, Flamethrower is unlike traditional startup programs that rely on short-term credits, upcharges, and automated onboarding, instead providing simple, reliable cloud object storage from day one.

“Too often, startups move fast early on, only to discover later that their infrastructure decisions have quietly become expensive, sticky, and difficult to unwind,” said James Leaverton, Director of Startups & Developer Relations at Backblaze. “Flamethrower exists to meet teams before that moment, giving them storage that just works, predictable pricing they can work with in the long term, and direct access to people who’ve been through this before.”

Through the Flamethrower program, qualifying startups receive cloud storage credits for Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, along with access to Backblaze experts who understand startup architectures and real-world production environments. The program supports common startup workloads including AI/ML training data, media and gaming assets, fast-growing SaaS platforms, as well as backup, archiving, and disaster recovery.

Flamethrower is intentionally designed to respect founders’ time. There are no mandatory demos, no surprise sales motions, and no pressure to convert before teams are ready. Applications are reviewed by real people, and participants can engage with Backblaze on their own terms as they scale.

“Founders don’t fail because they chose the wrong storage provider—they fail because everything else is already hard enough,” Leaverton added. “Our goal is to make data storage the least interesting and most enabling part of their stack.”

Flamethrower is available now, and eligible startups can learn more from the blog post: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/introducing-the-backblaze-flamethrower-startup-program/ and apply for the program at: backblaze.com/startups.

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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260218776887/en/

Press Contact:
Yev Pusin
Head of Communications
press@backblaze.com

Source: Backblaze, Inc.