Backblaze, Inc.
For the period ended Dec 31, 2025. Filed Mar 10, 2026.
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A company's yearly report to the SEC, with audited financial statements. It is the fullest account a company gives of its business, its finances and the risks it sees.
FY2025 · Filed Mar 10, 2026
What changed in Risk Factors?
Read the current filingPrevious report: 10-K
Period ended 2024-12-31; filed 2025-03-11.
0001462056-25-000015
Item 1A. Risk FactorsCurrent report: 10-K
Period ended 2025-12-31; filed 2026-03-10.
0001628280-26-016395
Item 1A. Risk FactorsThe baseline is this issuer’s latest earlier reporting period of the same form that was filed before the current report. A previous 10-Q is a different quarter, not a year-over-year comparison. Amendments are excluded.
Compared 181 previous paragraphs and 196 current paragraphs.
120 unchanged; 52 reworded; 22 added; 8 removed; 1 previous and 2 current paragraphs rearranged.
Tables are not compared: 1 previous and 2 current tables excluded. Dates, whitespace, punctuation and numbering changes are ignored; changes to financial figures remain significant.
A changed paragraph is not evidence that risk increased or decreased. An unchanged paragraph does not establish that risk stayed the same.
Added paragraphs (22)
Current report
Our business requires that we continuously evaluate and align our workforce, operational capacity, and organizational structure with evolving strategic priorities and market conditions. In 2024 and 2025, we initiated measures to reduce headcount, implemented a hiring freeze, and took other actions to pursue greater cost efficiency and align strategic initiatives. While we believe these actions were necessary to position the company for long-term success, they involve inherent risks, including the loss of institutional knowledge, reduced capacity to execute on strategic initiatives, challenges retaining key employees during periods of organizational uncertainty, and potential adverse effects on employee morale, productivity, and company culture.
Current report
Our headcount needs fluctuate, and we may continue to seek to adjust our workforce from time to time in response to changing business needs, market conditions, and other factors. It may be difficult to manage these workforce transitions effectively or on a timely basis. If our workforce reductions or hiring constraints are too aggressive, we may lack the personnel necessary to support customer commitments, deliver on our product roadmap, or capitalize on emerging opportunities, including those related to AI and neocloud. If they are insufficient, we may not achieve the cost efficiencies required to sustain the business through periods of slower growth.
Current report
At the same time, the amount of data stored with us and the storage infrastructure deployed by us has continued to increase, and customer demands on our platform, including the complexity of workloads we support, continue to grow. Managing this operational growth with a constrained workforce places additional strain on our management, administrative, operational, security, and financial infrastructure.
Current report
If and when we resume headcount expansion, we will need to effectively recruit, onboard, and integrate new employees while maintaining the operational discipline and cost structure we have worked to establish. Our success will depend in part on our ability to manage these workforce dynamics effectively, which will require that we continue to improve our administrative, operational, financial, and management systems and controls. If we fail to appropriately align our workforce and operational capacity with the needs of our business, the quality of our services may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract customers and employees.
Current report
Historically, most of our customers consisted of small-to-medium sized businesses and individuals. Our growth strategy is in part dependent upon attracting and retaining customers that are larger businesses and organizations. To the extent we target other types of customers or customers with different or specific needs, we may face greater demand for certain service enhancements or features that we do not currently offer, or additional performance, availability, durability, and security requirements. We may also face greater peak demands on our infrastructure from customers using our platform that could temporarily impact the quality of our services, strain our resources, increase our operating costs or require additional capital expenditures. For example, we have experienced an increasing number of AI technology companies using our platform and have increased our focus on AI customer opportunities. The market for AI is evolving rapidly and subject to significant changes and demands. Our focus on AI customers subjects us to significant risks including rapid technological obsolescence, intense competition from established companies as well as new market entrants, and high volatility. The AI market is characterized by rapid innovation cycles that could render our solutions obsolete, and may involve significant investments and dedication of resources in engineering, technical operations, sales and marketing. In addition, the nature of AI workloads often requires higher performance, lower latency, and increased utilization of storage infrastructure compared to traditional customers. Certain data heavy use cases, including various AI use cases, place greater demands on our storage systems, including higher throughput, increased hard drive processing, and more intensive data access patterns. These requirements could increase our infrastructure costs, accelerate hardware wear, and require additional investment in technology and capacity. If we are unable to meet the evolving needs of these types of customers or manage the associated operational challenges, our business, infrastructure, and financial results could be adversely affected. As a result, our business may also fluctuate more significantly as our customers experience volatility and fluctuating demands as the AI market and the business needs of our customers evolve.
Current report
•recouping any upfront investments for new or expanded operations and locations and achieving a reasonable return on a timely basis with respect to any such investments;
Current report
We use AI technologies internally to increase employee productivity and efficiency, but our business is also increasingly exposed to risks related to our customers, including neocloud partners and AI model builders, and their use of AI on our platform, any of which could harm our business.
Current report
A significant and growing part of our strategy is to serve data-heavy workloads, including AI model builders and neocloud platforms through our Powered by Backblaze program, who use our Backblaze Storage Cloud to store data for their AI workflows, such as model training. We are investing in capabilities to serve this market, including our B2 Neo solution, a high-performance storage offering designed for AI and neocloud workloads, and a substantial portion of our growth strategy depends on attracting and retaining these customers. This reliance exposes us to risks arising from their business practices and the evolving regulatory landscape governing AI use. The legal and regulatory landscape around AI is rapidly evolving, including issues of data usage, intellectual property (e.g., training data provenance), and algorithmic transparency. For example, the European Union's AI Act, which took effect in 2024, imposes significant obligations on AI systems and could affect how our customers develop, train, or deploy AI models using data stored on our platform. In the United States, states such as California and Colorado have enacted AI-specific legislation, and additional federal or state regulations may follow. New or stricter laws or regulations, or new interpretations of existing laws, could impact our customers' ability to use our platform for their AI model training or data storage, which could negatively affect the growth and adoption of B2 Cloud Storage. Furthermore, if an AI model developed by a customer is found to produce discriminatory, harmful, or legally questionable outputs, or is subject to an intellectual property infringement claim related to its training data (which is stored on our platform), our brand and reputation could be harmed. While our contracts seek to limit our liability, we could still be drawn into litigation or regulatory actions against our customers, incurring defense costs and management distraction. Additionally, our growth strategy depends on attracting these data-intensive neocloud customers and AI model builders; factors that negatively affect their business, such as failure to successfully commercialize their AI products, migration to alternative storage, or broader market downturns affecting AI investment, could materially impact our revenue growth and financial condition. Because revenue from these customers can be concentrated among a small number of large agreements, the loss of even one significant neocloud customer could have a disproportionate effect on our results.
Current report
We also use AI, including generative AI tools, in our internal operations, such as for software development, content generation, and streamlining business workflows. While this has the potential to enhance efficiency, AI models can produce inaccurate, biased, or incomplete outputs that may affect critical internal decision-making. If we fail to effectively monitor and validate AI-generated outcomes, we could inadvertently introduce bugs or security vulnerabilities into our proprietary software, or disseminate flawed customer communications, which could harm our platform performance, reliability, or customer trust. Moreover, our reliance on third-party AI tools may involve the processing of sensitive company or customer data. Despite contractual obligations for data protection, we face risks related to inadvertent data leakage, the training of third-party models on our proprietary information, or noncompliance with evolving data privacy and security regulations. Our reliance on third-party AI services also exposes us to potential service disruptions, price increases, or changes in terms that could increase our operating costs or require us to find alternative solutions. Our use of generative AI in coding and content creation may also introduce intellectual property risks, including uncertainty around ownership of AI-generated materials and inadvertent incorporation of third-party proprietary content. The intellectual property rights surrounding AI-generated outputs have not been fully addressed by U.S. courts or federal law, and we could face claims that our use of AI tools infringes third-party rights or that we lack clear ownership of AI-assisted work product. As AI regulation develops globally, we may face increased compliance burdens and restrictions on how we deploy AI internally. We may also fail to achieve anticipated efficiency gains, fall behind competitors who more successfully adopt these technologies, or incur additional costs without realizing expected benefits. Our failure to manage these evolving risks related to both customer and internal use of AI could adversely impact our operations, business, and financial results.
Current report
Changes in global trade policies, including the imposition of tariffs and other trade restrictions, may adversely affect our business.
Current report
Global trade policies, including tariffs, have experienced, and may continue to experience, rapid and significant changes. While a significant portion of our purchases of material or equipment is purchased from entities located in the United States (or otherwise assembled in the United States), we source some products or components from foreign countries that may be subject to new tariffs. We also rely on various global suppliers, hardware vendors, and data center partners, many of whom procure equipment, components, or materials from regions affected by the changing trade policies. The imposition of tariffs or other trade measures, particularly involving technology-related goods, could increase our direct costs as well as the costs for our partners and vendors, which may be passed on to us through higher service fees, hardware pricing, increased logistical expenses, or result in delays and longer lead times. In addition, our customers may be adversely affected by the global trade changes, which, in turn, could lead to reduced demand for our solutions, delayed purchases, or lower customer or data retention rates. Any efforts to mitigate these risks by diversifying or expanding our supply chain may not achieve the intended benefits. The changes, including potential changes, to global trade policies have also led to uncertainty, and impacted broad segments of the financial markets, including the Russell 2000 Index, which tracks small-cap stocks such as Backblaze. The long-term implications of changing global trade policies remain uncertain and may have unforeseen consequences for our business and stock.
Current report
Restrictive covenants under our credit facility may constrain our strategic and operational flexibility.
Current report
On June 4, 2025, we entered into a senior secured revolving credit agreement with Citizens Bank, N.A. (the “Lender”) providing borrowing capacity of up to $20 million, of which up to $3 million is available through a letter-of‑credit (the “Revolving Credit Facility”). While we believe the credit facility generally strengthens our overall financial position, the credit agreement imposes various affirmative and negative covenants, including financial covenants requiring us to maintain specified minimum liquidity, minimum consolidated EBITDA, and maximum total leverage ratios, as well as limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, create liens on our assets, make certain investments, and take other corporate actions, including mergers and acquisitions, without prior approval from the lender. As a result, our operating and financial flexibility may be materially restricted by these provisions. If we fail to comply with any covenant or other terms and conditions, the lender may accelerate amounts outstanding under the facility, require mandatory prepayment or repayment, terminate access to additional borrowings, or foreclose on any or all of the Company’s assets secured or otherwise pledged as collateral under the credit agreement. These restrictions may limit our ability to respond effectively to changing market or economic conditions, pursue acquisitions, investments, or strategic transactions that we otherwise believe are value enhancing, return capital to stockholders via dividends, share repurchases or other distributions; or make capital expenditures or other internal reinvestments, including investing in product enhancements or scaling key infrastructure. Our ability to comply with these covenants, and to avoid defaults, may be adversely affected by changes in our liquidity position, profitability, working capital, or capital structure that arise due to factors outside of our control, including economic downturns, competitive pressures, or unexpected expense events. A default under the agreement could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Current report
We will remain an emerging growth company until December 31, 2026, which is the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of our initial public offering. As a result, our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2026 will no longer reflect any reduced disclosure requirements as an emerging growth company.
Current report
As a public company, we are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“Section 404”), to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. However, we are currently exempt from the requirement for an independent registered public accounting firm to attest to and report on management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 until our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. Effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to prevent fraud. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
Current report
This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting, as well as a statement that our independent registered public accounting firm has issued an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We expect to incur significant expenses and devote substantial management effort toward ensuring compliance with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404. Furthermore, if and when we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer”, we will also be required to file a more expansive proxy statement and be subject to shorter filing deadlines, which will require additional time and expense.
Current report
An independent assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls could detect problems that our management’s assessment might not. Undetected material weaknesses in our internal controls could lead to financial statement restatements and require us to incur costs to remediate them. We will be required to disclose changes made in our internal control and procedures on a quarterly basis. To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we have undertaken and may need to continue to undertake various actions, such as implementing new internal controls and procedures, hiring risk professionals, accounting and internal audit staff, and engaging outside consultants, which will increase our operating expenses.
Current report
We are in the early stages of the costly and challenging process of compiling the system and processing documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404. We may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing, and any required remediation in a timely fashion. During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective.
Current report
If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control, including as a result of a material weakness, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline, and we may be subject to investigation or sanctions by the SEC. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on Nasdaq.
Current report
The rules dealing with U.S. federal, state and local income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Changes to U.S. policy implemented by the U.S. Congress, the current administration or any new administration have impacted and may in the future impact, among other things, the U.S. and global economy, international trade relations, unemployment, immigration, healthcare, taxation, the U.S. regulatory environment, inflation and other areas. In July 2025, the federal government enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBB Act”), which permanently extended and modified several provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and introduced significant new tax rules applicable to corporations. Among other things, the OBBB Act is expected to increase our net operating losses and related valuation allowances. We will continue to evaluate the specific impacts of the OBBB Act and further guidance or regulation may be issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that could impact our business. Although we cannot predict the full impact of these changes to our business, they could affect our business in a variety of ways, including some impacts that may benefit us and other impacts that may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Current report
Our stock and business may be adversely affected by the actions of third parties attempting to manipulate our share price.
Current report
We believe our stock and business has been, and may in the future be, subject to short sellers or other third parties who manipulate our share price through false or misleading reports to spark fear and drive down our share price for their personal financial gain at the expense of other stockholders. This technique is also referred to as “short and distort.” These activities are often accompanied by announcements from various fee-chasing law firms trolling for potential plaintiffs and threatening litigation, often without conducting a thorough investigation. Even when there is no merit to the underlying allegations, these campaigns, which may involve social media, anonymous sources, or coordinated trading activity, can materially impact investor sentiment, depress our stock price, harm our reputation and business, and divert management’s attention.
Removed paragraphs (8)
Previous report
We have recently experienced, and continue to experience, a period of rapid growth. The amount of data stored with us and the storage infrastructure deployed by us has increased significantly. The number of customer requests on our network has also increased rapidly in recent years. Our growth may not be sustainable. In 2023 and 2024, we initiated measures to reduce headcount and took other actions to pursue greater cost efficiency and align strategic initiatives. Nevertheless, in the long term, we expect to continue to expand our operations and to increase our headcount, network, and product offerings significantly. Our growth has placed, and future growth may continue to place, a significant strain on our management, corporate culture, quality of our cloud services, and administrative, operational, security, and financial infrastructure. Our headcount needs may also fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis and we may seek, and have sought by way of the recent restructuring measures, to “right size” our workforce from time to time due to changing business needs and other conditions. It may also be difficult to effectively manage our workforce on a timely basis in response to such changes. It is also important that we successfully leverage our existing employee base and any headcount growth, particularly as our business grows and the corresponding demands on our business increase. Our success will depend in part on our ability to manage this growth effectively, which will require that we, among other things, continue to improve our administrative, operational, financial, and management systems and controls. If we fail to manage our growth, the quality of our services may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract customers and employees.
Previous report
For example, although we do not have a significant amount of customers located in Ukraine and Russia, the Russian-Ukraine conflict has caused oil prices to rise and increased the risk of disruption to the supply chain for oil. The Israel-Hamas conflict also resulted in some similar effects. The hostilities in various places around the world could also escalate further and directly or indirectly involve other countries, including the United States, which could cause a greater impact on us and our customers, partners and supplies.
Previous report
We are an emerging growth company, and for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to “emerging growth companies,” including: not being required to have our independent registered public accounting firm audit our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the Sarbanes Oxley Act), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to avail ourselves of this accommodation allowing for delayed adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and therefore, we will not be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years following the completion of our IPO or until we reach certain thresholds. Investors may find our common stock less attractive due to our election to rely on these exemptions and there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and the market price of our common stock may be more volatile.
Previous report
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of December 31, 2026 or (i) as of June 30, 2025, our public float is less than $700 million; (ii) our total annual gross revenues do not exceed $1.235 billion or more during a fiscal year, or (iii) we issue less than $1 billion in non-convertible debt over the past three years.
Previous report
We were previously a “smaller reporting company” under the securities laws, and therefore able to take advantage of various reduced financial and other disclosure obligations and requirements. However, as of June 30, 2024, we exceeded the applicable threshold to qualify as a smaller reporting company. As a result, while we are still able to utilize the reduced financial and other disclosure obligations and requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies for our 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 (and still qualify as an emerging growth company as noted above), we will not be able to utilize the smaller reporting company status for the foreseeable future thereafter. In addition, we now qualify as an “accelerated filer” pursuant to SEC rules and are subject to such requirements, including an accelerated timeframe to file our annual report on Form 10-K beginning for fiscal year 2024 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Although we expect to be able to file such reports on a timely basis, compliance with the accelerated timeframe creates additional challenges and strain on resources, particularly in the finance and accounting department.
Previous report
We have dedicated significant effort and resources towards measures to remediate the identified material weaknesses (see Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding remediation efforts). Through testing of our internal controls completed during the quarter ended December 31, 2024, management has determined that the controls related to our remediation actions were effectively designed and operated effectively for a sufficient period of time to enable us to conclude that the material weaknesses have been remediated as of December 31, 2024.
Previous report
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures and internal controls over financial reporting and expect that we will need to continue to expend significant resources, including accounting-related costs, and significant management oversight, to meet such requirements. However, our current controls and any new controls that we develop may not be adequate, and weaknesses in our disclosure controls may be discovered in the future. We have previously identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, which we subsequently remediated; however, new material weaknesses may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our results of operations or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
Previous report
The rules dealing with U.S. federal, state and local income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department. In addition, the change in administration as a result of the 2024 U.S. presidential election could lead to changes in tax laws and enforcement practices. In 2017, the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration made substantial changes to U.S. policies, which included comprehensive corporate and individual tax reform. In addition, the Trump administration called for significant changes to U.S. trade, healthcare, immigration and government regulatory policy. With the transition to the Biden administration in early 2021, changes to U. S. policy occurred and since the start of the Trump Administration in 2025, U.S. policy changes have been implemented at a rapid pace and additional changes are likely. Changes to U.S. policy implemented by the U.S. Congress, the Trump administration or any new administration have impacted and may in the future impact, among other things, the U.S. and global economy, international trade relations, unemployment, immigration, healthcare, taxation, the U.S. regulatory environment, inflation and other areas. Although we cannot predict the impact, if any, of these changes to our business, they could adversely affect our business. Until we know what policy changes are made, whether those policy changes are challenged and subsequently upheld by the court system and how those changes impact our business and the business of our competitors over the long term, we will not know if, overall, we will benefit from them or be negatively affected by them.
Reworded paragraphs (52)
Previous wording
We incurrednet losses of $48.5 million and $59.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Following our 17 plus years of operations, we had an accumulated deficit of $196.0 million as of December 31, 2024. We cannot guarantee that net losses in future periods will be similar to those from prior periods. We intend to continue scaling our business to increase our customer base and to meet the increasingly complex needs of our customers. We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, in our sales and marketing organization to sell our cloud services around the world and in our development organization to deliver additional features and capabilities of our cloud services to address our customers’ evolving needs. We also expect to continue to make significant investments in our data center infrastructure and technical operations organization as we further scale our business. As a result of our continuing investments to scale our business in each of these areas, we do not expect to be profitable for the foreseeable future. We cannot assure you that we will achieve profitability in the future or that, if we do become profitable, we will sustain profitability.
Current wording
We incurrednet losses of $25.6 million, $48.5 million, and $59.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Following our 18 plus years of operations, we had an accumulated deficit of $221.6 million as of December 31, 2025. We cannot guarantee that net losses in future periods will be similar to those from prior periods. We intend to continue scaling our business to increase our customer base and to meet the increasingly complex needs of our customers. We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, in our sales and marketing organization to sell our cloud services around the world and in our development organization to deliver additional features and capabilities of our cloud services to address our customers’ evolving needs. We also expect to continue to make significant investments in our data center infrastructure and technical operations organization as we further scale our business. As a result of our continuing investments to scale our business in each of these areas, we do not expect to be profitable for the foreseeable future. We cannot assure you that we will achieve profitability in the future or that, if we do become profitable, we will sustain profitability.
Previous wording
The markets in which we operate are highly competitive, with relatively low barriers to entry for certain applications and services. Some of our competitors include cloud-based services such as those offered by Amazon.com, Inc. through Amazon Web Services, Alphabet Inc. through Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Corporation through Azure, and on-premises offerings such as those offered by EMC/Dell and NetApp. Many of our competitors and potential competitors are larger and have greater name and brand recognition; longer operating histories; larger budgets for the development, promotion and sale of their products or services; broader service offerings and capabilities; and significantly greater resources than we do. In addition, many of our competitors have established marketing and distribution relationships with channel partners, consultants, system integrators, and resellers. Our competitors may also be able to respond more quickly and effectively to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards, or customer requirements, including offering multiple types of storage solutions with various price points, feature sets and performance levels. Competition may intensify in the future, particularly as we seek to move up-market and may also include new market entrants, including storage offerings by some of our partners. Our competitors could offer their products or services at a lower price or in some combination with other services or applications that we do not offer, which could result in pricing pressures on our business. We have raised prices in the past, including price increases which took effect in the fourth quarter of 2023. While we believe that these price increases resulted in increased revenue without a material negative impact on our business, any future price increases by us, or reductions in prices by our competitors, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including potential loss of customers who do not wish to renew their subscriptions at the higher prices, reduction in the number of new customers, or a decrease in the amount of data that existing (or new) customers store with us or subscriptions they purchase from us. Increased competition generally could result in reduced sales, increased customer churn, lower margins, losses, or the failure of our cloud services to achieve or maintain widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our business.
Current wording
The markets in which we operate are highly competitive, with relatively low barriers to entry for certain applications and services. Some of our competitors include cloud-based services such as those offered by Amazon.com, Inc. through Amazon Web Services, Alphabet Inc. through Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Corporation through Azure, and on-premises offerings such as those offered by EMC/Dell and NetApp. Many of our competitors and potential competitors are larger and have greater name and brand recognition; longer operating histories; larger budgets for the development, promotion and sale of their products or services; broader service offerings and capabilities; and significantly greater resources than we do. In addition, many of our competitors have established marketing and distribution relationships with channel partners, consultants, system integrators, and resellers. Our competitors may also be able to respond more quickly and effectively to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards, or customer requirements, including offering multiple types of storage solutions with various price points, feature sets and performance levels. Competition may intensify in the future, particularly as we seek to move up-market and may also include new market entrants, including storage offerings by some of our partners., customers or other third parties in the industry. For example, Cloudflare, CoreWeave, DigitalOcean and Vultr offer at least some form of their own storage solutions. Our competitors could offer their products or services at a lower price or in some combination with other services or applications that we do not offer, which could result in pricing pressures on our business. We have raised prices in the past, including price increases which took effect in the fourth quarter of 2023. While we believe that these price increases resulted in increased revenue without a material negative impact on our business, any future price increases by us, or reductions in prices by our competitors, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including potential loss of customers who do not wish to renew their subscriptions at the higher prices, reduction in the number of new customers, or a decrease in the amount of data that existing (or new) customers store with us or subscriptions they purchase from us. Increased competition generally could result in reduced sales, increased customer churn, lower margins, losses, or the failure of our cloud services to achieve or maintain widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our business.
Previous wording
Our brand, reputation, and ability to manage our systems; attract, retain, and serve our customers; and interface with our partners, are dependent upon the reliable performance of our platform, including our underlying technical infrastructure, as well as the systems and infrastructure of various third parties, including third-party hosted data centers that we use and internet access and infrastructure used by us and our customers and partners. Our customers rely on our platform to store and access their data, including financial records, business information, personal information, documents, media, and other important content. There are various reasons that our platform, or the systems that are used to access or support our platform, could experience a disruption in service, some of which are entirely outside of our control. For example, our facilities as well as the data centers that we use are subject to extreme weather events and natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tornados, storms, floods, fires and droughts, which may become more frequent and intense due to climate change. Our facilities and data centers are also vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, intentional bad acts, war or other military conflict, including the conflicts between Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas, which may further escalate and could directly or indirectly involve other countries, including the United States, terrorist attacks, cybersecurity attacks or the risk of potential cybersecurity attacks, power losses, hardware failures, systems failures, telecommunications failures, and similar events, any of which could disrupt our service, destroy user content, or prevent us from being able to continuously back up or record changes in our users’ content. For example, a third party vendor that operated one of our multiple data center locations, filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the United States
Current wording
Our brand, reputation, and ability to manage our systems; attract, retain, and serve our customers; and interface with our partners, are dependent upon the reliable performance of our platform, including our underlying technical infrastructure, as well as the systems and infrastructure of various third parties, including third-party hosted data centers that we use and internet access and infrastructure used by us and our customers and partners. Our customers rely on our platform to store and access their data, including financial records, business information, personal information, documents, media, and other important content. There are various reasons that our platform, or the systems that are used to access or support our platform, could experience a disruption in service, some of which are entirely outside of our control. For example, our facilities as well as the data centers that we use are subject to extreme weather events and natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tornados, storms, floods, fires and droughts, which may become more frequent and intense due to climate change. Our facilities and the data centers that we use are also vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, intentional bad acts, war or other military conflict, terrorist attacks, cybersecurity attacks or the risk of potential cybersecurity attacks, power losses, hardware failures, systems failures, telecommunications failures, vendor consolidations, restructurings or bankruptcies, and similar events, any of which could disrupt our service, destroy user content, or prevent us from being able to continuously back up or record changes in our users’ content. For example, one of the data centers we use had a cooling problem due to equipment failure in October 2025. While the issue was resolved without significantly impacting access to customer data, such events could occur in the future with adverse consequences. We also periodically refresh the hardware infrastructure underlying our Backblaze Storage Cloud platform to improve performance, scalability, and cost-efficiency. These refresh cycles involve operational complexity and capital investment, and any delays, cost overruns, integration issues, or unforeseen performance challenges could adversely affect service reliability, customer satisfaction, and our financial results. While we maintain incident response plans that include defined processes, roles, communications, responsibilities and procedures for responding to cybersecurity incidents and other events that impact our operations, and such plans are tested and evaluated on a regular basis, our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities and even if we anticipate an incident, our disaster recovery plans may not be sufficient to timely and effectively address the issue. Moreover, our platform and technical infrastructure as well as the infrastructure of our data center partners may not be adequately designed or operate with suf…
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Previous wording
The successful promotion of our brand and our ability to maintain our reputation will depend on a number of factors, including our performance and the reliability of our cloud services; our advertising and marketing efforts, including our blog and social media presence, which have been important to building and maintaining our brand and reputation; our ability to continue to develop high-quality features and cloud services; and our ability to successfully differentiate our cloud services from competitive products and services. Our brand promotion activities may not be successful or yield increased revenue.
Current wording
The successful promotion of our brand and our ability to maintain our reputation will depend on a number of factors, including our performance and the reliability of our cloud services; our advertising and marketing efforts, including our blog and social media presence, which have been important to building and maintaining our brand and reputation; our ability to continue to develop high-quality features and cloud services; and our ability to successfully differentiate our cloud services from competitive products and services. Our promotional activities may not be successful or yield increased revenue.
Previous wording
The promotion of our brand may require us to make substantial expenditures, particularly as our markets become more competitive and we expand into new markets or offer new products or services, or additional features. Expenditures intended to maintain and enhance our brand may not be cost-effective or effective at all. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our brand, we may have reduced pricing power relative to our competitors, we could lose customers, we could fail to attract potential new customers or retain our existing customers, or our blog and thought leadership in our industry may decline in popularity, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business.
Current wording
The promotion of our brand has in the past, and may in the future cause us to make substantial expenditures, particularly as our markets become more competitive and we expand into new markets or offer new products or services, or additional features. Expenditures intended to maintain and enhance our brand may not be cost-effective or effective at all. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our brand, we may have reduced pricing power relative to our competitors, we could lose customers, we could fail to attract potential new customers or retain our existing customers, or our blog and thought leadership in our industry may decline in popularity, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business.
Previous wording
Our customers rely on our solutions to store or use their files, which may include confidential or personally identifiable information, critical business information, photos, and other meaningful content. To manage and maintain such data, we are highly dependent on internal and external information technology systems and infrastructure, including the internet, to securely process, transmit, and store critical information. Although we take measures to protect our systems and sensitive information from unauthorized access or disclosure, third parties may be able to circumvent our security by deploying viruses, worms, and other malicious software programs that are designed to attack or attempt to infiltrate our systems and networks, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) or phishing attacks, that can undermine the availability and performance of our systems and cloud services, lead to the blocking of our services by ISPs or governments, fraudulently steal data, or otherwise cause damage to our reputation and negatively impact us and our customers. For example, in December 2021, an industry-wide zero-day vulnerability was discovered in the Apache Log4j logging library commonly used by many companies throughout the world that could permit attackers to take control of vulnerable servers. Although we were not aware of any unauthorized access to our systems due to the Log4j vulnerability, out of an abundance of caution and because Log4j was leveraged widely in our environment, we decided it was in our customers’ best interest to take our systems offline for a short period of time until we could apply the security patch. In addition, we regularly encounter attempts to create false or undesirable user accounts and various types of DDoS attacks, which can disrupt our systems, impair system performance and impact analytics. Moreover, cybersecurity attacks evolve rapidly and are expected to continue to accelerate in both frequency and sophistication, and bad actors may utilize new methods not recognized because they are designed to circumvent controls, avoid detection, and remove or obfuscate forensic evidence. Although we have taken, and continue to take, various actions to prevent and mitigate potential cybersecurity attacks, it is very difficult to successfully identify, stop, or resolve such attacks, or implement adequate preventative measures and we will continue to incur costs in our efforts to protect against and respond to cyber-attacks and potential cyber-attacks. Also, the use of generative artificial intelligence, or other societal or political developments resulting in periods of increased political tensions and military conflicts, could result in a greater likelihood of cybersecurity incidents that could either directly or indirectly impact our operations. In addition, employee or consultant error, malfeasance, or other errors in the storage, use, or transmission of customer data could result in a breach. Even if a breach is detected, the…
Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.
Current wording
Our customers rely on our solutions to store or use their data, which may include confidential or personally identifiable information, critical business information, photos, and other meaningful content. To manage and maintain such data, we are highly dependent on internal and external information technology systems and infrastructure, including the internet, to securely process, transmit, and store critical information. Although we take measures to protect our systems and sensitive information from unauthorized access or disclosure, third parties may be able to circumvent our security by deploying viruses, worms, and other malicious software programs that are designed to attack or attempt to infiltrate our systems and networks, including distributed denial of service (“DDoS”) or phishing attacks, that can undermine the availability and performance of our systems and cloud services, lead to the blocking of our services by ISPs or governments, fraudulently steal data, or otherwise cause damage to our reputation and negatively impact us and our customers. For example, in December 2021, an industry-wide zero-day vulnerability was discovered in the Apache Log4j logging library commonly used by many companies throughout the world that could permit attackers to take control of vulnerable servers. Although we were not aware of any unauthorized access to our systems due to the Log4j vulnerability, out of an abundance of caution and because Log4j was leveraged widely in our environment, we decided it was in our customers’ best interest to take our systems offline for a short period of time until we could apply the security patch. In addition, we regularly encounter attempts to create false or undesirable user accounts, phishing attacks and various types of DDoS attacks, which can disrupt our systems, impair system performance and impact analytics. Moreover, cybersecurity attacks evolve rapidly and are expected to continue to accelerate in both frequency and sophistication, and bad actors may utilize new methods not recognized because they are designed to circumvent controls, avoid detection, and remove or obfuscate forensic evidence. Although we have taken, and continue to take, various actions to prevent and mitigate potential cybersecurity attacks, it is very difficult to successfully identify, stop, or resolve such attacks, or implement adequate preventative measures and we will continue to incur costs in our efforts to protect against and respond to cyber-attacks and potential cyber-attacks. Also, the use of generative AI, or other societal or political developments resulting in periods of increased political tensions and military conflicts, could result in a greater likelihood of cybersecurity incidents that could either directly or indirectly impact our operations. In addition, employee or consultant error, malfeasance, or other errors in the storage, use, or transmission of customer data could result in a breach. Even if a breach is detected, the f…
Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.
Previous wording
We generate substantially all of our revenue from the sale of our cloud services either on a consumption or subscription model. To grow, we must continue to attract a large number of customers on a cost-effective basis. Any price increases could make it more difficult to attract new customers and retain existing customers, or cause existing customers to reduce the amount of data that they store with us, thus negatively impacting our revenue and business. We have historically used, and plan to increase our use of, a variety of advertising and marketing programs to promote our cloud services. Our sales and marketing investments intended to accelerate the scaling of our business, including any expansion of existing programs and new programs to promote our cloud services, may not be successful or provide a reasonable return on investment within a desired timeframe. Significant increases in the pricing of one or more of our advertising channels would increase our advertising and marketing costs or cause us to choose less expensive and perhaps less effective channels. We may also need to expand into channels with significantly higher costs, which could adversely affect our operating results. We may also incur increased sales and marketing expenses and engineering and operating expenses, including infrastructure expenditures, significantly in advance of the time we anticipate recognizing any revenue generated by such expenses, and we may only at a later date, or never, experience an increase in revenue or other benefits as a result of such expenditures. If we are unable to achieve effective advertising and marketing programs or successfully expand our solution offerings and operations, our ability to attract new customers could be adversely affected, our advertising and marketing expenses could increase substantially, and our operating results may suffer.
Current wording
We generate substantially all of our revenue from the sale of our cloud services either on a consumption or subscription model. To grow, we must continue to attract customers on a cost-effective basis. Any price increases could make it more difficult to attract new customers and retain existing customers or cause existing customers to reduce the amount of data that they store with us, thus negatively impacting our revenue and business. We have historically used, and plan to increase our use of, a variety of advertising and marketing programs to promote our cloud services. Our sales and marketing investments intended to accelerate the scaling of our business, including any expansion of existing programs and new programs to promote our cloud services, may not be successful or provide a reasonable return on investment within a desired timeframe. Significant increases in the pricing of one or more of our advertising channels would increase our advertising and marketing costs or cause us to choose less expensive and perhaps less effective channels. We may also need to expand into channels with significantly higher costs, which could adversely affect our operating results. We may also incur increased sales and marketing expenses and engineering and operating expenses, including infrastructure expenditures, significantly in advance of the time we anticipate recognizing any revenue generated by such expenses, and we may only at a later date, or never, experience an increase in revenue or other benefits as a result of such expenditures. For example, in April 2025 we announced B2 Overdrive, a premium priced high-performance cloud storage solution, which is intended to meet the demands of data-intensive workloads such as AI and ML training, high-performance computing, large-scale analytics, and media processing. While this expansion opens new market opportunities, it also introduces risks associated with entering a competitive and rapidly evolving sector, including the need for substantial investment in infrastructure, often in advance of corresponding revenue generation, and potential challenges in meeting specialized customer requirements. If we are unable to achieve effective advertising and marketing programs or successfully expand our solution offerings and operations, our ability to attract new customers could be adversely affected, our advertising and marketing expenses could increase substantially, and our operating results may suffer.
Previous wording
A portion of our potential customers locate our website through search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. In 2023 we modernized our website to help improve the user experience and increase traffic through search engine optimization to accelerate lead generation, although such efforts may not be as successful as anticipated to increase web traffic and improve the user experience. Our ability to maintain the number of visitors directed to our website is not entirely within our control. If search engine companies modify their search algorithms in a manner that reduces the prominence of our listing, or if our competitors’ search engine optimization efforts are more successful than ours, or if AI results replace traffic from search engines, fewer potential customers may click through to our website. In addition, the cost of purchased listings has increased in the past and may increase in the future. A decrease in website traffic or an increase in promoted search result costs could adversely affect our customer acquisition efforts and our operating results. In addition, we also rely on our blog and word of mouth to drive additional customers. To the extent our blog does not continue to attract readers or if our reputation is harmed, these additional means of attracting customers may no longer provide significant numbers of customers in the future.
Current wording
A portion of our potential customers locate our website through search engines and social media platforms. Our ability to maintain the number of visitors directed to our website is not entirely within our control. If search engine companies modify their search algorithms in a manner that reduces the prominence of our listing, or if our competitors’ search engine optimization efforts are more successful than ours, or if AI technologies replace traffic from search engines, fewer potential customers may click through to our website. In addition, the cost of purchased listings has increased in the past and may increase in the future. A decrease in website traffic or an increase in promoted search result costs could adversely affect our customer acquisition efforts and our operating results. In addition, we also rely on our blog and word of mouth to drive additional customers. To the extent our blog does not continue to attract readers or if our reputation is harmed, these additional means of attracting customers may no longer provide significant numbers of customers in the future.
Previous wording
In addition, because we offer our Computer Backup cloud service at a fixed price, the amount of data our customers back up affects our costs and gross margins. Subject to certain limitations, we also offer up to three times free egress for our B2 Cloud Storage customers. To the extent current or future customers back up unusually large amounts of data, use an excessive amount of egress or growth in the amount of data backed up per customer outpaces decreases in storage costs, our costs and gross margins and infrastructure could be adversely affected.
Current wording
In addition, because we offer our Computer Backup cloud service at a fixed price, the amount of data our customers back up affects our costs and gross margins. Subject to certain limitations, we also offer free egress for our B2 Cloud Storage customers. To the extent current or future customers back up unusually large amounts of data, use an excessive amount of egress or growth in the amount of data backed up per customer outpaces decreases in storage costs, our costs and gross margins and infrastructure could be adversely affected.
Previous wording
Our industry is marked by rapid technological developments and new and enhanced applications and cloud services. If we are unable to provide enhancements and new features for our existing services or new services that achieve market acceptance or that keep pace with rapid technological developments, our business could be adversely affected. We have recently launched various new product features and other changes, including Event Notification and Live Read. We cannot be certain whether such features and other changes will achieve a desired level of market adoption and return on investment. In addition, because our cloud services are designed to operate on a variety of systems, we will need to continuously modify and enhance our cloud services to keep pace with changes in internet-related hardware, operating systems, and other software, communication, browser, and database technologies, including the systems of our partners, vendors, and competitors. We also have limited internal resources and thus need to selectively prioritize features and other development and infrastructure projects, and de-prioritize other such projects. Although we seek to prioritize the projects that we believe are the most important and de-prioritize projects of lesser importance based on the information available to us at any given time, there is no guarantee that our prioritization efforts will achieve the desired market adoption or infrastructure improvements and we may not be successful in either developing these modifications and enhancements or in bringing them to market in a timely fashion. In addition, any failure of our cloud services to operate effectively and on a timely basis with network platforms and technologies could reduce the demand for our cloud services, result in customer dissatisfaction and adversely affect our business. Furthermore, any enhancements, new features or offerings generally require upfront investments before any potential return on investment, and may increase our research and development expenses and infrastructure costs, which could adversely impact our pricing advantage, undermine our ease of use, make it more difficult to attract and retain customers, and harm our results of operations.
Current wording
Our industry is marked by rapid technological developments and new and enhanced applications and cloud services. If we are unable to provide enhancements and new features for our existing services or develop new services that achieve market acceptance, our business could be adversely affected. We have recently launched various new solutions, product features and other changes, including B2 Overdrive. We cannot be certain whether such features and other changes will achieve a desired level of market adoption and return on investment. We have also launched product features that utilize AI, and may offer additional AI related solutions in the future. Embedding AI in our solutions exposes us to additional risks for potential inaccuracies or bias in AI outputs as well as data privacy, intellectual property, or other regulatory and compliance requirements. In addition, because our cloud services are designed to operate on a variety of systems, we will need to continuously modify and enhance our cloud services to keep pace with changes in internet-related hardware, operating systems, and other software, communication, browser, and database technologies, including the systems of our partners, vendors, and competitors. We also have limited internal resources and thus need to selectively prioritize features and other development and infrastructure projects, and de-prioritize certain other projects. Although we seek to prioritize the projects that we believe are the most important and de-prioritize projects of lesser importance based on the information available to us at any given time, there is no guarantee that our prioritization efforts will achieve the desired market adoption or infrastructure improvements and we may not be successful in either developing these modifications and enhancements or in bringing them to market in a timely fashion. In addition, any failure of our cloud services to operate effectively and on a timely basis with network platforms and technologies could reduce the demand for our cloud services, result in customer dissatisfaction and adversely affect our business. Furthermore, any enhancements, new features or offerings generally require upfront investments before any potential return on investment, and may increase our research and development expenses and infrastructure costs, which could adversely impact our pricing advantage, undermine our ease of use, make it more difficult to attract and retain customers, and harm our results of operations.
Previous wording
The software underlying our cloud services is inherently complex and may contain material defects or errors, particularly when first introduced or when new versions or enhancements are released. We have from time to time found defects or errors in our cloud services, and new defects or errors in our existing solutions may be detected in the future by us, our customers or partners, or other third parties. The costs incurred in correcting such defects or errors may be substantial and could negatively impact our business. Backblaze employees could also introduce defects or errors through incompetence, malfeasance, or a mistake that would lead to data loss. For example, to the extent that the encryption keys for encrypted customer data stored by Backblaze were to be deleted or corrupted, the data could become unrecoverable. In addition, we rely on hardware purchased or leased and software licensed from third parties to offer our cloud services. Hardware is susceptible to failures over time and may require increased maintenance effort and costs. Any defects in, or unavailability of, our software or hardware failures that cause interruptions to the availability of our cloud services or that otherwise impact our business could, among other things:
Current wording
The software underlying our cloud services is inherently complex and may contain material defects or errors, particularly when first introduced or when new versions or enhancements are released. We have from time to time found defects or errors in our cloud services, and new defects or errors in our existing solutions may be detected in the future by us, our customers or partners, or other third parties. The costs incurred in correcting such defects or errors may be substantial and could negatively impact our business. For example, to the extent that the encryption keys for encrypted customer data stored by us were to be deleted or corrupted, the data could become unrecoverable. In addition, we rely on hardware purchased or leased and software licensed from third parties to offer our cloud services. Hardware is susceptible to failures and may require ongoing maintenance and periodic replacement throughout its useful life. Any defects in, or unavailability of, our software or hardware failures that cause interruptions to the availability of our cloud services or that otherwise impact our business could, among other things:
Previous wording
If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business would be harmed.
Current wording
If we fail to effectively manage our workforce and operational needs, our business would be harmed.
Previous wording
Our business could be materially harmed to the extent that we do not effectively manage our data center capacity and the costs associated with our data centers.
Current wording
Our business could be materially harmed to the extent that we do not effectively manage our data center capacity and the costs associated with our data center spaces.
Previous wording
We must continue to effectively manage our infrastructure, including capital expenditures to maintain and expand our data center capacity, servers and equipment, and locations. The costs of building out and maintaining our data centers, including the purchase and leasing of equipment, constitute a significant portion of our capital and operating expenses. To manage our data center capacity and the associated capital expenditures, we continuously evaluate our short and long-term data center capacity requirements. However, because our customer retention and the amount of data that they store with us may increase, decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, it is difficult to accurately predict our capacity needs over time. If we underestimate the data center capacity needed to address increases in volume usage, or there is not enough capacity at the data centers at commercially acceptable rates, or at all, we may be unable to increase our data center capacity in an expedient and cost-effective manner, which could result in materially adverse effects on our business and our results of operations. For example, if we are not able to obtain data center capacity on a timely basis, the ability for customers to upload or download data could be negatively impacted. As a result, we might be unable to attract new customers or retain existing customers and could cause existing customers to reduce the amount of data that they store with us. In such a scenario, we may also be required to enter into leases or other agreements for data centers, servers and other equipment that are more expensive than they otherwise would be as a result of the increased demand and competition in the market for data center capacity. It can also take time to add data center capacity, whether at existing data center locations or new locations, and therefore, we may also not be able to expand our data center capacity to address customer needs on a timely basis. In addition, many of our data center sites are subject to multi-year leases. If our capacity needs are reduced, or if we decide to close a data center, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable leases including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term and continuing to pay for any servers or other equipment. If we overestimate our data center capacity requirements, and therefore secure excess data center capacity and servers or other equipment, then our capital expenditures could be materially increased and our operating margins could be materially reduced. To the extent we pursue any expansion of our data center footprint, our infrastructure and maintenance costs will increase. In addition, we will generally incur expenses in advance of receiving any increase in customers, revenue or other benefits. Any expansion outside of the United States will also increase the costs of compliance with local laws and regulations. As a result, we may not be…
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Current wording
The competition for data center space, infrastructure and equipment has intensified significantly, particularly due to increased demand from AI and other compute-intensive workloads. As a result, available capacity in key markets is limited, and data center and other vendors have implemented, and may in the future implement, more stringent qualification and other requirements. These heightened requirements may favor larger, better-capitalized companies and could make it more difficult or costly for us to secure additional data center space or renew existing agreements on favorable terms. Adding data center capacity, whether at existing locations or new locations, requires significant lead time, capital investment, and coordination with third-party providers. As a result, our ability to scale infrastructure in line with the storage demands of our customers may be constrained, particularly during periods of accelerated data growth or supply chain disruption. In addition, many of our data center spaces are subject to multi-year leases. If our capacity needs are reduced, or if we decide to close a data center space, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable leases including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term and continuing to pay for any servers or other equipment. If we overestimate our data center capacity requirements, and therefore secure excess data center capacity and servers or other equipment, then our capital expenditures could be materially increased, and our operating margins could be materially reduced. To the extent we pursue any expansion of our data center footprint, our infrastructure and maintenance costs will increase. In addition, we will generally incur expenses in advance of receiving any increase in customers, revenue or other benefits. Any expansion outside of the United States will also increase the costs of compliance with local laws and regulations. As a result, we may not be able to recover the cost of those investments, which could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. We may also be subject to risks and unanticipated increases in energy costs as a result of: regulations intended to regulate carbon emissions and other pollutants, laws requiring enhanced energy efficiency measures, surcharges related to recovering the cost of extreme weather events and natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts, military conflicts, grid modernization charges, as well as other charges. If we are unable to obtain sufficient data center capacity, or if we are forced to accept less favorable terms, our ability to scale, maintain service levels, or otherwise grow our business could be adversely affected.
Previous wording
It is important for our business that our customers continue to use, and even increase their use of, our cloud services. Many of our customers can terminate their use of our cloud services at will with little-to-no advance notice. Even though some of our customers enter into longer-term multi-year agreements, they generally have no obligation to renew their subscriptions or increase usage. Due to our varied customer base and lack of long-term customer and usage commitments, it can be difficult to accurately predict our customer retention rate on a quarterly basis or long-term basis. Our customer retention and the amount of data that they store with us may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including potential customer dissatisfaction with our cloud services and offerings; pricing plans; our customers’ own business conditions; customer decisions to delete unneeded or redundant data; the perception, whether or not accurate, that competitive products provide better options; changes in our brand or reputation; and overall general economic conditions. Our recent price increase for Computer Backup and B2 Cloud Storage could make it more difficult to attract new customers and retain existing customers, or cause existing customers to reduce the amount of data that they store with us or subscriptions they purchase from us. Our future financial performance also depends in part on our ability to continue to increase revenue from our customers through new features and additional paid products, such as Event Notifications, Live Read, Enterprise Control and multi-region selection. Our customers’ decision whether to opt for additional paid products is driven by a number of factors. If our customers do not perceive the value in such additional paid offerings, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of our investments in such additional features, and our financial results could be harmed. If we cannot successfully retain our existing customers and add new customers consistent with historical rates, including maintaining or growing the amount of data that our customers store with us, our revenue and ability to grow may be adversely affected.
Current wording
It is important for our business that our customers continue to use, and even increase their use of, our cloud services. Many of our customers can terminate their use of our cloud services at will with little-to-no advance notice. Even though some of our customers enter into longer-term multi-year agreements, they generally have no obligation to renew their subscriptions or increase usage. Due to our varied customer base and lack of long-term customer and usage commitments, it can be difficult to accurately predict our customer retention rate on a quarterly basis or long-term basis. Our customer retention and the amount of data that they store with us may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including potential customer dissatisfaction with our cloud services and offerings; pricing plans; our customers’ own business conditions; customer decisions to delete unneeded or redundant data; the perception, whether or not accurate, that competitive products provide better options; changes in our brand or reputation; and overall general economic conditions. The consumer portion of the market for our Computer Backup has also been experiencing downward pressure as the market for standalone consumer backup solutions has matured. Future price increases for Computer Backup and B2 Cloud Storage could make it more difficult to attract new customers and retain existing customers or cause existing customers to reduce the amount of data that they store with us or subscriptions they purchase from us. Our future financial performance also depends in part on our ability to continue to increase revenue from our customers through new features and additional paid products, such as B2 Overdrive, Enterprise Control and multi-region selection. Our customers’ decision whether to opt for additional paid products is driven by a number of factors. If our customers do not perceive the value in such additional paid offerings, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of our investments in such additional features, and our financial results could be harmed. If we cannot successfully retain our existing customers and add new customers consistent with historical rates, including maintaining or growing the amount of data that our customers store with us, our revenue and ability to grow may be adversely affected.
Previous wording
Historically, most of our customers consisted of small-to-medium sized businesses and individuals. Our growth strategy is in part dependent upon attracting and retaining customers that are larger businesses and organizations. To the extent we target other types of customers or customers with different or specific needs, we may face greater demand for certain service enhancements or features that we do not currently offer, or additional performance, availability, durability, and security requirements. We may also face greater peak demands on our infrastructure from customers using our platform that could temporarily impact the quality of our services, strain our resources, increase our operating costs or require additional capital expenditures. We may face increased competition from some of our competitors that typically target larger businesses and organizations and that may have pre-existing relationships or purchase commitments, that may have more experienced sales personnel or greater budgetary resources available to target larger customers, or that may be able to bundle other services with an offering that is competitive with ours. Certain types of customers may also have longer sales cycles, less predictability or higher volatility in the amount of data they store with us, increased pricing or negotiation leverage, and increased customer education, prolonged contract negotiations and overall customer engagement needs. In addition, some customers may demand more customization, integration, and support services. Any of these factors could require us to devote greater sales, engineering, marketing, operations, and support services as well as make significant infrastructure changes, which could increase our costs, divert key resources from other current and prospective customers, and otherwise adversely affect our business and operating results. These increased demands and challenges may also be for the benefit of a limited number of customers. In addition, the loss of any larger customers will have a greater impact on our financial results than the loss of smaller customers, which could cause our financial results to fluctuate more significantly from period to period. Moreover, we cannot assure you that our efforts to attract and retain customers will be successful or justify the additional investments in a timely manner, or at all.
Current wording
We may also face increased competition from some of our competitors that typically target larger businesses and organizations and that may have pre-existing relationships or purchase commitments, that may have more experienced sales personnel or greater budgetary resources available to target larger customers, or that may be able to bundle other services with an offering that is competitive with ours. Certain types of customers may also have longer sales cycles, less predictability or higher volatility in the amount of data they store with us, increased pricing or negotiation leverage, and increased customer education, prolonged contract negotiations and overall customer engagement needs. In addition, some customers may demand more customization, integration, and support services. Any of these factors could require us to devote greater sales, engineering, marketing, operations, and support services as well as make significant infrastructure changes, which could increase our costs, divert key resources from other current and prospective customers, and otherwise adversely affect our business and operating results. These increased demands and challenges may also be for the benefit of a limited number of customers. In addition, the loss of any larger customers will have a greater impact on our financial results than the loss of smaller customers, which could cause our financial results to fluctuate more significantly from period to period. Moreover, we cannot assure you that our efforts to attract and retain customers will be successful or justify the additional investments in a timely manner, or at all.
Previous wording
Our quarterly results of operations may vary significantly in the future. Accordingly, the results of any one quarter should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Our quarterly results of operations may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, and as a result may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business. Fluctuation in quarterly results may negatively impact the trading price of our common stock. Factors that may cause fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations include, without limitation:
Current wording
Our quarterly results of operations have fluctuated in the past and may vary significantly in the future. Accordingly, the results of any one quarter should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Our quarterly results of operations fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, and as a result may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business. Fluctuation in quarterly results may negatively impact the trading price of our Class A common stock. Factors that may cause fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations include, without limitation:
Previous wording
•the timing and success of new product feature and service introductions by us or our competitors;
Current wording
•the timing and success of new product features and service introductions by us or our competitors;
Previous wording
•outbreaks of war or other hostilities, such as the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas hostilities;
Current wording
•outbreaks of war or other hostilities, such as the Russia-Ukraine, the joint U.S-Israeli strikes on Iran in February 2026 and other conflicts in the Middle East;
Previous wording
•inflation in the United States, which has recently hit a four decade high, and other regions;
Current wording
•inflation in the United States and other regions;
Previous wording
Further, as we continue to grow and scale our business to meet the needs of our customers, we may overestimate or underestimate our infrastructure capacity requirements, which could adversely affect our results of operations. The costs associated with leasing and maintaining our custom-built infrastructure in co-location facilities and third-party data centers already constitute a significant portion of our capital and operating expenses. We continuously evaluate our short and long-term infrastructure capacity requirements and seek to ensure adequate capacity for new and existing users while minimizing unnecessary excess capacity costs. However, we may not be able to sufficiently predict future demand, or the availability of hardware or infrastructure necessary to support increased demand on a timely basis. If we overestimate the demand for our platform and therefore secure excess infrastructure capacity or equipment, our gross margins could be reduced. If we underestimate our infrastructure capacity requirements or availability of necessary hardware or infrastructure, we may not be able to service the needs of new and existing customers; durability, reliability, and performance could suffer; our costs could rise; and our business could be harmed.
Current wording
Further, as we continue to grow and scale our business to meet the needs of our customers, we may overestimate or underestimate our infrastructure capacity requirements, which could adversely affect our results of operations. The costs associated with leasing and maintaining our custom-built infrastructure in data center spaces and third-party data center spaces already constitute a significant portion of our capital and operating expenses. We continuously evaluate our short and long-term infrastructure capacity requirements and seek to ensure adequate capacity for new and existing users while minimizing unnecessary excess capacity costs. However, we may not be able to sufficiently predict future demand, or the availability of hardware or infrastructure necessary to support increased demand on a timely basis. If we overestimate the demand for our platform and therefore secure excess infrastructure capacity or equipment, our gross margins could be reduced. If we underestimate our infrastructure capacity requirements or availability of necessary hardware or infrastructure, we may not be able to service the needs of new and existing customers; durability, reliability, and performance could suffer; our costs could rise; and our business could be harmed.
Previous wording
We believe our success has depended, and continues to depend, on the efforts and talents of senior management and other key personnel. Substantially all of our employees, including our senior management, are employed on an at-will basis. We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of any member of our senior management or other key employees, particularly given that some of these employees may hold equity of the Company that is largely vested, or that we would be able to timely replace members of our senior management or other key employees should any of them depart. The loss of one or more members of our senior management or other key employees could harm our business.
Current wording
We believe our success has depended, and continues to depend, on the efforts and talents of senior management and other key personnel. Substantially all of our employees, including our senior management, are employed on an at-will basis. We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of any member of our senior management or other key employees, particularly given that some of these employees may hold equity of the Company that is largely vested, or that we would be able to timely replace members of our senior management or other key employees should any of them depart. Various personnel actions, including the restructurings and reductions in force we previously announced in November 2025 and November 2024, can also create disruption and result in additional turnover. Changes in key personnel may result in a loss of institutional knowledge, delay near term decision making, and create uncertainty for employees, customers and partners. The loss of experienced personnel, or delays in hiring and onboarding qualified successors, could adversely affect our go to market success, product development, engineering execution, and overall business performance.
Previous wording
To execute our business strategy, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for executive officers, software developers, sales personnel, operational personnel, and other key employees in our industry is intense. In particular, we compete with many other companies for software developers with high levels of experience in designing, developing, and managing cloud-based software, as well as for skilled sales and operations professionals. In addition, we believe that the success of our business and corporate culture depends on employing a diverse workforce, and the competition for such personnel is significant. The market for such talented personnel is particularly competitive in the San Francisco Bay Area, where our headquarters is located. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we do and can frequently offer such personnel substantially greater compensation than we can offer. In addition, in 2024 we implemented a new commission structure for our sales team and expect to periodically optimize our commission structure. If our sales commission program does not effectively incentivize our sales team at appropriate compensation levels, we may not be successful in retaining or hiring qualified sales personnel, obtaining new customers, increasing sales to our existing customer base, or effectively managing compensation levels. We also rely from time to time on hiring employees from foreign countries, which may require immigration requirements. The immigration process can be subject to frequent changes and limitations, and we may experience difficulty in obtaining visas permitting entry for some of our employees that are foreign nationals into the United States, and delays in obtaining visas permitting entry into other key countries, which could negatively impact our ability to strategically locate our personnel. In addition, we may be unsuccessful at retaining our key employees, and it may take significant time for new employees to achieve full productivity, either of which would adversely impact our business, results of operations, and financial condition. If we fail to attract new personnel, including accomplished executive talent, or if we fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business would be harmed. In addition, if we are unable to hire new employees on a timely basis or reach productive levels in a short time frame, new growth initiatives and other projects may be delayed or otherwise disrupted, which could cause us to miss our performance goals and negatively impact our business.
Current wording
To execute our business strategy, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for executive officers, software developers, sales personnel, operational personnel, and other key employees in our industry is intense. In particular, we compete with many other companies for software developers with high levels of experience in designing, developing, and managing cloud-based software, as well as for skilled sales and operations professionals. In addition, we believe that the success of our business and corporate culture depends on employing a diverse workforce, and the competition for such personnel is significant. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we do and can frequently offer such personnel substantially greater compensation than we can offer. In addition, in 2024, we implemented a new commission structure for our sales team and expect to adjust our commission structure at least annually. If our sales commission program does not effectively incentivize our sales team at appropriate compensation levels, we may not be successful in retaining or hiring qualified sales personnel, obtaining new customers, increasing sales to our existing customer base, or effectively managing compensation levels. We also rely from time to time on hiring employees from foreign countries, which may require immigration requirements and pose additional risks related to increased operations in foreign countries detailed elsewhere in these risk factors. In particular, the immigration process can be subject to frequent changes and limitations, and we may experience difficulty in obtaining visas permitting entry for some of our employees that are foreign nationals into the United States, and delays in obtaining visas permitting entry into other countries, which could negatively impact our ability to fully leverage our personnel. For example, the United States government recently announced significant fee changes to the H-1B process. In addition, we may be unsuccessful at retaining our key employees, and it may take significant time for new employees to achieve full productivity, either of which would adversely impact our business, results of operations, and financial condition. If we fail to attract new personnel, including accomplished executive talent, or if we fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business would be harmed. In addition, if we are unable to hire new employees on a timely basis or reach productive levels in a short time frame, new growth initiatives and other projects may be delayed or otherwise disrupted, which could cause us to miss our performance goals and negatively impact our business.
Previous wording
We have a culture that encourages employees to be open, collaborate, strive to do the right thing, and develop and launch new and innovative solutions, which we believe is essential to attracting customers and partners and serving the best, long-term interests of our company. As our business grows and becomes more complex, it may become more difficult to maintain culture aligned across the Company. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel, which is critical to our growth, and to effectively focus on and pursue our strategies. If we fail to maintain our company culture, our business and competitive position may be harmed.
Current wording
We have a culture that encourages employees to be open, collaborate, strive to do the right thing, and develop and launch new and innovative solutions, which we believe is essential to attracting customers and partners and serving the best, long-term interests of our company. As our business grows and becomes more complex, it may become more difficult to maintain culture aligned across the company. Any failure to preserve our culture and core values could negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel, which is critical to our growth, and to effectively focus on and pursue our strategies. If we fail to maintain our company culture, our business and competitive position may be harmed.
Previous wording
In 2024, we derived approximately 26% of our revenue from customers outside of the United States and have customers in over 175 countries worldwide. In addition to a previously existing data center region based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we also opened a new data center region in Toronto, Canada and wholly owned subsidiary in Canada in January 2025. We may continue to expand our international operations, which mayinclude the establishment of foreign subsidiaries, the opening and expansion of data centers, hiring employees, building out technical infrastructure, and opening offices in foreign jurisdictions. Any new markets or countries into which we attempt to market and sell our cloud services may not be receptive. For example, we may be unable to expand further in some markets if we are unable to satisfy various government- and region-specific requirements, and the increased costs of compliance with local laws and regulations or standards in other countries may further increase the costs and result in delays, and, as a result, we may not be able to recover the cost of these investments, which could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. In addition, our ability to manage our business and conduct our operations internationally requires considerable management attention and resources and is subject to the particular challenges and complexities of deploying infrastructure internationally and supporting a rapidly growing business in an environment of multiple languages, cultures, customs, legal and regulatory systems, alternative dispute systems, and commercial markets. International expansion has required, and will continue to require, investment of significant funds and other resources. Growth in our international operations will subject us to new risks and may increase risks that we currently face, including risks associated with:
Current wording
In 2025, we derived approximately 28% of our revenue from customers outside of the United States and have customers in over 175 countries worldwide. In addition to a previously existing data center region based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we also opened a new data center region in Toronto, Canada and established a wholly owned subsidiary in Canada in January 2025. We expect to continue to expand our international operations, which mayinclude the establishment of foreign subsidiaries, the opening and expansion of data center spaces, hiring employees, building out technical infrastructure, and opening offices in foreign jurisdictions. Any new markets or countries into which we attempt to market and sell our cloud services may not be receptive. For example, we may be unable to expand further in some markets if we are unable to satisfy various government- and region-specific requirements, and the increased costs of compliance with local laws and regulations or standards in other countries may further increase the costs and result in delays, and, as a result, we may not be able to recover the cost of these investments, which could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. In addition, our ability to manage our business and conduct our operations internationally requires considerable management attention and resources and is subject to the particular challenges and complexities of deploying infrastructure internationally and supporting a rapidly growing business in an environment of multiple languages, cultures, customs, legal and regulatory systems, alternative dispute systems, and commercial markets. International expansion has required, and will continue to require, investment of significant upfront and on-going investments and other resources. Growth in our international operations will subject us to new risks and may increase risks that we currently face, including risks associated with:
Previous wording
Expanding our international operations and complying with applicable laws and regulations may substantially increase our cost of doing business in international jurisdictions. We may also be unable to keep current with changes in laws and regulations as they develop, and we or our employees, contractors, partners, and agents may fail to maintain compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Any violations could result in enforcement actions, fines, civil and criminal penalties, damages, injunctions, or reputational harm. We also have numerous international partners and suppliers that could result in a direct or indirect impact on our business based on the international risks described above. If we, or our partners and suppliers, are unable to comply with these laws and regulations or manage the complexity of our global operations successfully, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Current wording
Expanding our international operations and complying with applicable laws and regulations may substantially increase our cost of doing business in international jurisdictions. For example, in September 2025, the EU Data Act imposes new requirements on cloud service providers, including enhanced data portability, interoperability, customer switching rights and early termination rights, as well as restrictions on data transfer and access by non-EU authorities. Compliance with these obligations will require changes to customer contracts and internal processes, and could increase our operational costs. We may also be unable to keep current with changes in laws and regulations as they develop, and we or our employees, contractors, partners, and agents may fail to maintain compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Any violations could result in enforcement actions, fines, civil and criminal penalties, damages, injunctions, or reputational harm. We also have numerous international partners and suppliers that could result in a direct or indirect impact on our business based on the international risks described above. If we, or our partners and suppliers, are unable to comply with these laws and regulations or manage the complexity of our global operations successfully, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Previous wording
We store personal information and other customer data, as well as use certain cookies on our website, that are subject to numerous federal, state, local, and foreign laws regarding privacy and the storing and protection of personal information and other customer data, and disclosure requirements regarding the use and certain breaches of such laws. For example, we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA), among other laws and regulations around the world. Other comprehensive data privacy or data protection laws or regulations requiring local data residency and/or restricting the international transfer of data have been passed or are under consideration in other jurisdictions. In addition, some industries have industry-specific requirements relating to compliance with certain security and regulatory standards, such as those required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). For example, HIPAA imposes privacy, security, and breach reporting obligations with respect to individually identifiable health information upon “covered entities” (e.g., health plans, health care clearinghouses, and certain health care providers), and their respective business associates, individuals, or entities that create, receive, maintain or transmit protected health information in connection with providing a service for or on behalf of a covered entity. Such laws give rise to an increasingly complex set of compliance obligations on us regarding our ability to gather, use, and store customer data and customer account data.
Current wording
We store personal information and other customer data, as well as use certain cookies on our website, that are subject to numerous federal, state, local, and foreign laws regarding privacy and the storing and protection of personal information and other customer data, and disclosure requirements regarding the use and certain breaches of such laws. For example, we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”), among other laws and regulations around the world. Other comprehensive data privacy or data protection laws or regulations requiring local data residency and/or restricting the international transfer of data have been passed or are under consideration in other jurisdictions. In addition, some industries have industry-specific requirements relating to compliance with certain privacy, security and regulatory standards, such as those required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). Such laws give rise to an increasingly complex set of compliance obligations regarding our ability to gather, use, and store customer data and customer account data.
Previous wording
These privacy and data protection laws are subject to rapid change and differing interpretations, may require limited timeframes to implement changes, and can be inconsistent among regulatory frameworks or conflict with other rules or our business practices. We strive to comply with all applicable laws, policies, legal obligations, and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and data protection to the extent possible. Our efforts to comply with the complex matrix of data privacy laws around the world subjects us to increasing costs to review and comply with such laws, including updating our policies, procedures, and business practices to address such evolving privacy laws. We also make public statements and commitments regarding our use and disclosure of personal information through our privacy policy, information provided on our website, and data processing agreements with customers and other third parties. Because the interpretation and application of data protection laws, regulations, standards, and other obligations are often uncertain and in flux, and sometimes contradictory, it is possible that the scope and requirements of these laws and other obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our practices, and our efforts to comply with rapidly evolving data protection laws and obligations may be unsuccessful. For example, we previously relied on the EU-US Privacy Shield framework, which was invalidated by a European court in July 2020. As a result of such a decision, we have had to take additional steps to comply with applicable EU data protection requirements, including implementation of standard contractual clauses.
Current wording
These privacy and data protection laws are subject to rapid change and differing interpretations, may require limited timeframes to implement changes, and can be inconsistent among regulatory frameworks or conflict with other rules or our business practices. We strive to comply with all applicable laws, policies, legal obligations, and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and data protection to the extent possible. Our efforts to comply with the complex matrix of data privacy laws around the world subject us to increasing costs to review and comply with such laws, including updating our policies, procedures, and business practices to address such evolving privacy laws. We also make public statements and commitments regarding our use and disclosure of personal information through our privacy policy, information provided on our website, and data processing agreements with customers and other third parties. Because the interpretation and application of data protection laws, regulations, standards, and other obligations are often uncertain and in flux, and sometimes contradictory, it is possible that the scope and requirements of these laws and other obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our practices, and our efforts to comply with rapidly evolving data protection laws and obligations may be unsuccessful.
Previous wording
Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with applicable privacy and security laws, policies, or related contractual obligations, or any compromise of security that results in unauthorized access, or the use or transmission of personal information or other customer data, could result in a variety of claims against us, including governmental enforcement actions and investigations, audits, inquiries, whistleblower complaints, class action privacy litigation in certain jurisdictions, and proceedings by data protection authorities. For example, under the GDPR we may be subject to fines of up to €20 million or up to 4% of the total worldwide annual group turnover of the preceding financial year, as well as potentially face claims from individuals. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. The CPRA added new requirements and consumer privacy rights as well as the creation of the California Privacy Protection Agency as a dedicated agency to implement and enforce California state privacy laws, investigate violations and assess penalties. Any new or currently applicable privacy and security laws, policies, or related contractual obligations may be enacted, adopted, or modified, the result of which may impact our compliance efforts, especially when certain emerging privacy laws are still subject to a high degree of uncertainty as to their interpretation, application and impact. Any non-compliance with data privacy requirements could subject us to significant fines and penalties, adverse media coverage, reputational damage, the loss of current and potential customers, loss of export privileges, or criminal or other civil sanctions, any of which could materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Current wording
Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with applicable privacy and security laws, policies, or related contractual obligations, or any compromise of security that results in unauthorized access, or the use or transmission of personal information or other customer data, could result in a variety of claims against us, including governmental enforcement actions and investigations, audits, inquiries, whistleblower complaints, class action privacy litigation in certain jurisdictions, and proceedings by data protection authorities. For example, under the GDPR we may be subject to fines of up to €20 million or up to 4% of the total worldwide annual group turnover of the preceding financial year, as well as potentially facing claims from individuals. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. The CPRA added new requirements and consumer privacy rights as well as the creation of the California Privacy Protection Agency as a dedicated agency to implement and enforce California state privacy laws, investigate violations and assess penalties. Any new or currently applicable privacy and security laws, policies, or related contractual obligations may be enacted, adopted, or modified, the result of which may impact our compliance efforts, especially when certain emerging privacy laws are still subject to a high degree of uncertainty as to their interpretation, application and impact. Any non-compliance with data privacy requirements could subject us to significant fines and penalties, adverse media coverage, reputational damage, the loss of current and potential customers, loss of export privileges, or criminal or other civil sanctions, any of which could materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Previous wording
If we are unable to successfully market and sell our cloud services to mid-market organizations, our ability to grow our revenue and achieve profitability will be harmed. We expect it will be more difficult and expensive to attract and retain mid-market organization customers than other customers because mid-market organizations are more frequently forced to curtail or cease operations due to the sale or failure of their business; can be more difficult to identify and may require more expensive, targeted sales campaigns; and generally have lesser amounts of data to store than larger organizations, thus requiring us to successfully sell to and support more mid-market organizations for meaningful revenue impact. In addition, mid-market organizations frequently have limited budgets and are more likely to be significantly affected by economic downturns than larger, more established companies. For example, recent high inflation and recession concerns in the United States could have a greater adverse impact on mid-market organizations. As a result, mid-market organizations may choose to spend funds on items other than our cloud services, particularly during difficult economic times. If we do not achieve continued success among mid-market organizations, our business, operating results, and future growth would be adversely affected.
Current wording
If we are unable to successfully market and sell our cloud services to mid-market organizations, our ability to grow our revenue and achieve profitability will be harmed. We expect it will be more difficult and expensive to attract and retain mid-market organization customers than other customers because mid-market organizations are more frequently forced to curtail or cease operations due to the sale or failure of their business; can be more difficult to identify and may require more expensive, targeted sales campaigns; and generally have lesser amounts of data to store than larger organizations, thus requiring us to successfully sell to and support more mid-market organizations for meaningful revenue impact. In addition, mid-market organizations frequently have limited budgets and are more likely to be significantly affected by economic downturns than larger, more established companies. For example, high inflation and recession concerns in the United States could have a greater adverse impact on mid-market organizations. As a result, mid-market organizations may choose to spend funds on items other than our cloud services, particularly during difficult economic times. If we do not achieve continued success among mid-market organizations, our business, operating results, and future growth would be adversely affected.
Previous wording
Adverse economic conditions may adversely impact our revenue and profitability.
Current wording
Uncertainty in general economic conditions may adversely impact our revenue and profitability.
Previous wording
Our operations and financial performance depend in part on worldwide economic conditions and the impact these conditions have on levels of spending on cloud storage solutions. Our business depends on the overall demand for these products and on the economic health and general willingness of our current and prospective customers to purchase our cloud services. Some of our paying customers may view use of cloud storage services as a discretionary purchase and may reduce their discretionary spending on our cloud services during an economic downturn. Weak economic conditions, whether due to the banking and financial crises, a return of pandemic conditions, inflation, uncertainty relating to the hostilities with Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas, and the potential escalation of geopolitical tensions that could also directly or indirectly involve other countries, including the United States, could cause a reduction in spending on products and solutions storage. Inflation has increased significantly over levels from the last few years in the United States amid a slowing economy and there are numerous indicators suggesting a potential economic recession in the United States and other regions of the world. Any such conditions could reduce sales, lengthen sales cycles, increase customer churn, and lower demand for our cloud services, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. We also have been, and may in the future be, subject to increased energy costs, particularly with respect to our data center operations in Europe and elsewhere, which could adversely affect our expenses and business. In addition, the change in administration as a result of the 2024 U.S. presidential election could lead to changes in economic conditions or economic uncertainties in the United States and globally. It is presently unclear exactly what actions the U.S. will implement, and if implemented, how these actions may impact our business. However, changes to global trade dynamics, including the imposition of tariffs, trade restrictions or retaliatory actions, could have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
Current wording
Our operations and financial performance depend in part on worldwide economic conditions and the impact these conditions have on levels of spending on cloud storage solutions. Our business depends on the overall demand for these products and on the economic health and general willingness of our current and prospective customers to purchase our cloud services. Some of our paying customers may view use of cloud storage services as a discretionary purchase and may reduce their discretionary spending on our cloud services during an economic downturn. Weak economic conditions, whether due to the banking and financial crises, a return of pandemic conditions, inflation, uncertainty relating to the hostilities with Russia-Ukraine, the joint United States-Israeli strikes on Iran in February 2026 along with other conflicts in the Middle East, and the potential escalation of geopolitical tensions that could also directly or indirectly involve other countries, including the United States, could cause a reduction in spending on products and solutions storage. Any such conditions could reduce sales, lengthen sales cycles, increase customer churn, and lower demand for our cloud services, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. We also have been, and may in the future be, subject to increased energy costs, particularly with respect to our data center operations in Europe and elsewhere, which could adversely affect our expenses and business. In addition, political uncertainty and changes to global trade dynamics, including the imposition of tariffs, trade restrictions or retaliatory actions, could have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
Previous wording
We may need additional financing to operate or grow our business. Our ability to obtain additional financing, if and when required, will depend on investor and lender demand, our operating performance, the condition of the capital markets, and other factors. For example, we often use leases to finance the equipment we use to provide our cloud-based services. In addition, the stock market has recently experienced significant volatility, including with respect to technology stocks, due to high inflation, various economic headwinds and other factors. In the event of a failure of any financial institutions where we maintain deposits, we may lose timely access to our funds at such institutions and incur significant losses to the extent our funds exceed the $250,000 limit insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In addition, we use one or more commercial banks for our banking needs. While we and the banks we have used to date have not been directly affected by the failures of certain banks in 2023, the banking industry overall has experienced disruption, greater uncertainty, and tightened lending standards. This may result in reduced access to capital, increased costs of capital, and reduced opportunities to invest with investment grade securities, which could also lower investment yields and investment income. Any such impact could have a material adverse effect upon our liquidity and business. In addition, in December 2024, we terminated our loan and security agreement with City National Bank, which included a revolving line of credit. While that line of credit was limited due to a requirement to fully collateralize any loan amounts by cash, we do not currently have a replacement line of credit or other equivalent arrangement. Without additional access to these kinds of capital on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, we may not be able to respond to increased demand for our cloud services on a timely or cost-effective basis. We cannot guarantee that additional financing will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-linked, or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to the rights of our Class A common stock, and our existing stockholders may experience dilution. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support the operation or growth of our business could be significantly impaired and our operating results may be harmed.
Current wording
We may need additional financing to operate or grow our business. Our ability to obtain additional financing, if and when required, will depend on investor and lender demand, our operating performance, the condition of the capital markets, our financial performance, including compliance with any applicable covenants, and other factors. For example, we often use leases to finance the equipment we use to provide our cloud-based services, and we have a Revolving Credit Facility with the Lender. In addition, the stock market has recently experienced significant volatility, including with respect to technology stocks, due to high inflation, various economic headwinds and other factors. In the event of a failure of any financial institutions where we maintain deposits, we may lose timely access to our funds at such institutions and incur significant losses to the extent our funds exceed the $250,000 limit insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In addition, we use one or more commercial banks for our banking needs. While we and the banks we have used to date have not been directly affected by the failures of certain banks in 2023, the banking industry overall has experienced disruption, greater uncertainty, and tightened lending standards. This may result in reduced access to capital, increased costs of capital, and reduced opportunities to invest with investment grade securities, which could also lower investment yields and investment income. Any such impact could have a material adverse effect upon our liquidity and business. Our Revolving Credit Facility with the Lender is subject to, among other things, various financial and operating covenants that place limits on our ability to incur indebtedness with the Lender and other financial institutions, and create liens on our property and assets. We cannot guarantee that additional financing will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms when required, or at all. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-linked, or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to the rights of our Class A common stock, and our existing stockholders may experience dilution. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us on a timely basis, our ability to continue to support the operation or growth of our business could be significantly impaired and our operating results may be harmed.
Previous wording
All of our sales contracts, and substantially all of our operations and related financial arrangements, are currently denominated in U.S. dollars and therefore, our revenue and business operations are not directly subject to significant foreign currency risk. However, a strengthening of the U.S. dollar could increase the real cost of our cloud services to our customers outside of the United States, which could reduce demand for our cloud services and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, as we expand our international operations, we may become more exposed to foreign currency risk and may have some of our sales and other operations denominated in one or more currencies other than the U.S. dollar. If we become more exposed to currency fluctuations and are unable to successfully hedge against the risks associated with currency fluctuations, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Current wording
All of our sales contracts, and substantially all of our operations and related financial arrangements, are currently denominated in U.S. dollars and therefore, our revenue and business operations are not directly subject to significant foreign currency risk. We do, however, earn revenue, pay expenses, and incur liabilities in countries using currencies other than the U.S. dollar, which primarily includes the British pound, the Canadian dollar, and the Euro. A strengthening of the U.S. dollar could increase the real cost of our cloud services to our customers outside of the United States, which could reduce demand for our cloud services and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, as we expand our international operations, we may become more exposed to foreign currency risk and may have some of our sales and other operations denominated in one or more currencies other than the U.S. dollar. If we become more exposed to currency fluctuations and are unable to successfully hedge against the risks associated with currency fluctuations, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Previous wording
We are and may become subject to legal proceedings, investigations, and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. For example, we are and may be subject to claims brought by customers, vendors or other third parties in connection with various types of disputes, including relating to commercial or contract matters, violation of securities laws, intellectual property laws or other laws, or privacy or other data breaches, or employment claims made by our current or former employees. Litigation can often be expensive, even when there is a successful outcome, and can divert management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business and financial condition. Any adverse outcome could also result in significant monetary damages or other types of unfavorable relief, which could harm our business as well as our reputation. Although we may have various insurance policies, insurance might not cover such claims or provide sufficient payments to cover all the costs to resolve one or more such claims, and might not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements. In addition, we are also and may also be subject to subpoena requests from third parties as well as governmental agencies from time to time that require us to provide certain information relating to matters targeted against other third parties, which can be time consuming.
Current wording
We may become subject to legal proceedings, investigations, and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. For example, we may be subject to claims brought by customers, vendors or other third parties in connection with various types of disputes, including relating to commercial or contract matters, violation of securities laws, intellectual property laws or other laws, or privacy or other data breaches, or employment claims made by our current or former employees. Litigation can often be expensive, even when there is a successful outcome, and can divert management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business and financial condition. Any adverse outcome could also result in significant monetary damages or other types of unfavorable relief, which could harm our business as well as our reputation. Although we may have various insurance policies, insurance might not cover such claims or provide sufficient payments to cover all the costs to resolve one or more such claims, and might not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements. In addition, we may also be subject to subpoena requests from third parties as well as governmental agencies from time to time that require us to provide certain information relating to matters targeted against other third parties, which can be time consuming.
Previous wording
We depend on a limited number of third-party data centers and other providers to safely house our equipment and provide sufficient power, bandwidth, and other infrastructure needs to support our operations and cloud services. To support our anticipated growth and as we develop and implement new product features we may require more computing infrastructure, which may include the opening and expansion of data centers. The risks we face in connection with the opening and expansion of data centers include:
Current wording
We depend on a limited number of third-party data centers and other providers to safely house our equipment and provide sufficient power, bandwidth, and other infrastructure needs to support our operations and cloud services. To support our anticipated growth and as we develop and implement new product features we may require more computing infrastructure, which may include the establishment and expansion of data center spaces. The risks we face in connection with the establishment and expansion of data center spaces include:
Previous wording
•we may not be able to find suitable third-party data center locations with sufficient power, or bandwidth, or such data center locations may not be available on commercially reasonable terms;
Current wording
•we may not be able to expand or find new suitable third-party data center locations with sufficient power, or bandwidth, or such expansion options or new data center locations may not be available on commercially reasonable terms;
Previous wording
•we will be required to commit substantial operational and financial resources to open new data centers, and we may not have sufficient customer demand in those markets to support the new data centers;
Current wording
•we will be required to commit substantial operational and financial resources to establish new data center spaces, and we may not have sufficient customer demand in those markets to support the new data center spaces;
Previous wording
•unanticipated technological changes could affect customer requirements for data centers, and we may not have built such requirements into our new data centers.
Current wording
•unanticipated technological changes could affect customer requirements for data center spaces, and we may not have built such requirements into our new data center spaces.
Previous wording
We also rely on key components for our platform, including hard drives and semiconductors, which come from limited sources of supply. Any decrease in hard drive availability could negatively impact our operations. Various events, including without limitation, periodic semiconductor industry shortages, a pandemic or fluctuating demands in AI, could impact our ability to source components in a timely and cost-effective manner from third-party suppliers. From time to time, we may also seek to mitigate the impact of potential supply chain disruptions by acquiring additional hard drives and related infrastructure, which can result in a higher balance of capital equipment and related lease liability, an increase in cash used in financing activities from principal payments, as well as a higher ongoing interest and depreciation expense related to any additional lease agreements. Current or future supply chain interruptions could be triggered or exacerbated by global political tensions, such as the imposition, or threat of potential imposition, of tariffs or other trade restrictions, hostilities or tensions such as the Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas and China-Taiwan conflicts, particularly if those tensions escalate into an armed conflict or directly or indirectly involve other countries, which may include the implementation of trade barriers, including boycotts or the use of economic sanctions and export control restrictions, any of which could negatively impact our ability to acquire hard drives and semiconductors. In addition, our business could be harmed in the event of any industry consolidations, acquisitions, other restructuring events or bankruptcies. For example, in September 2023, Toshiba Corp., one of our hard drive suppliers, announced the completion of a buy-out by various private equity firms and others. Also, in October 2023, Western Digital, another one of our hard drive suppliers, announced that it would spin-out its hard drive and other selected businesses into a separate company. Although the Toshiba buyout and Western Digital spin-out have not resulted in any material impact to our business to date, such industry consolidations, acquisitions or other restructuring events of third party vendors or partners may increase the likelihood of closure or other changes at such vendors and partners that could adversely affect our business. Also, a third party vendor that operated one of our multiple data center locations filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 under the United States Bankruptcy Code in 2022. This bankruptcy matter was resolved without disruption to normal operations, but future bankruptcies or similar actions affecting our third-party hosted data center providers could result in disruptions to the company, and access to customer data may become unavailable or customer data could be lost, and it may take a significant period of time to achieve full resumption of our cloud services. Any shortage of key components, including hard drive…
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Current wording
We also rely on key components for our platform, including hard drives and semiconductors, which come from limited sources of supply. Any decrease in hard drive availability could negatively impact our operations. Various events, including without limitation, periodic semiconductor industry shortages, a pandemic or fluctuating demands in AI, could impact our ability to source components in a timely and cost-effective manner from third-party suppliers. From time to time, we may also seek to mitigate the impact of potential supply chain disruptions by acquiring additional hard drives and related infrastructure, which can result in a higher balance of capital equipment and related lease liability, an increase in cash used in financing activities from principal payments, as well as a higher ongoing interest and depreciation expense related to any additional lease agreements. Current or future supply chain interruptions could be triggered or exacerbated by global political tensions, such as the imposition, or threat of potential imposition, of tariffs or other trade restrictions, hostilities or tensions such as the joint United States-Israeli strikes on Iran in February 2026 along with other conflicts in the Middle East, and conflicts between Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas, and China-Taiwan, particularly if those tensions escalate into an armed conflict or directly or indirectly involve other countries, which may include the implementation of trade barriers, including boycotts or the use of economic sanctions and export control restrictions, any of which could negatively impact our ability to acquire hard drives and semiconductors. In addition, our business could be harmed in the event of any industry consolidations, acquisitions, other restructuring events or bankruptcies. For example, in September 2023, Toshiba Corp., one of our hard drive suppliers, announced the completion of a buy-out by various private equity firms and others. Also, in October 2023, Western Digital, another one of our hard drive suppliers, announced that it would spin-out its hard drive and other selected businesses into a separate company. One of our data center vendors also went through bankruptcy proceedings in 2022. Although none of these prior examples resulted in any material impact to our business, such industry consolidations, acquisitions or other restructuring events of third-party vendors or partners could result in disruptions to the company, and access to customer data may become unavailable or customer data could be lost, and it may take a significant period of time to achieve full resumption of our cloud services. Any shortage of key components, including hard drives, could materially and adversely affect our ability to provide our cloud services, as well as negatively impact our financial results by increasing our costs, lease liabilities, interest and depreciation expenses, and inventory levels. Shortages or pricing fluctuations could be material in the future. In…
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Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
We must continue to effectively manage our infrastructure, including capital expenditures to maintain and expand our data center capacity, servers and equipment, and locations. The costs of building out and maintaining our data center spaces, including the purchase and leasing of equipment, constitute a significant portion of our capital and operating expenses. To manage our data center capacity and the associated capital expenditures, we continuously evaluate our short and long-term data center capacity requirements. However, because our customer retention and the amount of data that they store with us may increase, decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, potentially with little or no advance notice, it is difficult to accurately predict our capacity needs over time. If we underestimate the data center capacity needed to address increases in volume usage, or there is not enough capacity at the data centers at commercially acceptable rates, or at all, we may be unable to increase our data center capacity in an expedient and cost-effective manner, which could result in materially adverse effects on our business and our results of operations. For example, if we are not able to obtain sufficient data center capacity on a timely basis, the ability for customers to upload or download data could be negatively impacted. As a result, we might be unable to attract new customers or retain existing customers and could cause existing customers to reduce the amount of data that they store with us. In such a scenario, we may also be required to enter into leases or other agreements for data center spaces, servers and other equipment that are more expensive than they otherwise would be as a result of the increased demand and competition in the market for data center capacity.
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions.
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Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
Bankruptcy Code in 2022. This bankruptcy matter was resolved without disruption to our normal operations, but future bankruptcies or similar events affecting our third-party hosted data center providers could result in disruptions to our Company, access to customer data may become unavailable or customer data could be lost, and it may take a significant period of time to achieve full resumption of our cloud services. Also, in response to the Russian attack on Ukraine that began in February 2022, the United States and many other countries began imposing sanctions on Russia and certain parts of Ukraine, including restrictions on the import and export of goods and services to those regions. These restrictions have also been expanded to other countries, including Belarus. Although we do not have a significant number of customers located in those regions, such actions have had some immaterial impact on our business. It is difficult to predict how long the conflict may last, how the conflict could escalate, and how the sanctions may evolve, which could cause a greater adverse impact on our business and operations. While we maintain incident response plans that include defined processes, roles, communications, responsibilities and procedures for responding to cybersecurity incidents and other events that impact our operations, and such plans are tested and evaluated on a regular basis, our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities and even if we anticipate an incident, our disaster recovery plans may not be sufficient to timely and effectively address the issue. Moreover, our platform and technical infrastructure may not be adequately designed with sufficient reliability and redundancy to avoid delays or outages or other issues that could be harmful to our business. If our platform is unavailable when users attempt to access it, or if it does not perform as quickly as they expect, or if data is lost, users may not use our platform as often in the future, or at all.