Cloud data storage startup Wasabi raises $112M Series C led by Fidelity Management, bringing its total raised to $219M
Join Transform 2021 this July 12-16. Register fo r the AI event of the year. — Cloud data storage company Wasabi today announced that it raised $112 million in series C financing …
Context & Ripple Effects
Wasabi's raise extends a run of big checks into cloud storage infrastructure. A year earlier the startup had drawn attention with its flat-rate pricing model — one terabyte for $5/month per its Series B round — positioning itself directly against AWS S3. The same quarter, Snowflake's $450M raise at a $3.5B valuation showed investors were paying up for data-layer plays generally.
First-order effects
- Fidelity Management takes the lead seat on Wasabi's cap table with $112M, lifting Wasabi's total raised to $219M and giving it fresh ammunition to fund capacity expansion against AWS S3.
Second-order effects
- Hyperscaler-priced rivals face a challenger funded to sustain below-market storage rates, forcing the competitive fight onto price durability rather than features alone.
- Later coverage confirms the thesis compounded: Wasabi went on to raise a $250M Series D at a $1.1B+ valuation, half of it structured as debt — a sign storage operators were graduating to credit-backed capital stacks.
Third-order effects
- Institutional capital is building a durable position across the storage layer: Fidelity followed its Wasabi bet by leading VAST Data's $118M Series E at a $9B valuation, suggesting large asset managers view independent storage vendors as a recurring allocation rather than a one-off venture bet.
The trend: Independent cloud storage vendors are scaling on increasingly large institutional rounds — equity plus debt — to undercut hyperscaler pricing, with asset managers like Fidelity making repeat bets across the category.