Our investment in Cubbit
We live in a world that generates, and now more frequently stores and uses, an incredible amount of data. In 2023, approximately 120 zettabytes of data were created globally: that’s over 79 trillion blue-ray discs, or almost 4 billion human brains. Data generation is roughly doubling every 2 years, and in fact over 90% of all data has been generated in the last 24 months. Data is stored on-prem, in the cloud (often with hybrid cloud strategies) and on the edge. Tens of thousands of data centres have been built, over 5,000 in the US alone. The advent of generative AI is only poised to compound this growth, providing models with ever-evolving training. It’s no surprise that the term hyperscalers has been coined to define companies that provide the infrastructure behind cloud computing and storage: this market is worth hundreds of billions of dollars and likely to hit $1trn in the next few years.
Within this context, companies, governments and other organisations across the globe all face similar challenges: cost, complexity and control. How do you avoid getting locked into one hyperscaler with excessive fees? How do you orchestrate data between the cloud, on-prem and the edge? How do you guarantee resilience whilst optimising cost? How do you comply with data sovereignty rules or policies? To sum it all up, how do you exert your control over this escalating data generation?
The founders of Cubbit know these challenges intimately well. Whilst at university together, they started a video sharing platform, and whilst they were thrilled to see it used by a growing number of users, they worried about the cost and resilience challenges associated with storing an increasing amount of data. The solution they came up with has become their business today.
Cubbit’s software solution, the DS3 Composer, allows anyone to set up their own geo-distributed S3 cloud storage compatible with any infrastructure and policy framework — from hybrid cloud to the edge. The software shards data objects into redundant chunks, and then distributes these chunks within a geo-fenced network, accessible within a single data domain. This allows for sovereign, resilient, cost-efficient, and more environmentally friendly data storage.
Cubbit leverages an existing universe of partners (including MSPs, ISVs, local telcos, system integrators) to package their solution for SMB and Enterprise end customers. It also works directly with customers across industries, having found success particularly in spaces where its advantages are very attractive, such as in defence. We were fascinated by the vision that Leonardo, one of the largest defence companies in the world, had for partnering with Cubbit: the enablement of a cloud-edge digital continuum across assets on the ground, in the sea and in space.
Having found success with over 350 enterprise and SMB customers mostly in Western and South Europe, we’re excited to back Cubbit alongside ETF Partners to take DS3 Composer to customers in EMEA and beyond.
This also marks LocalGlobe’s first investment in my home country of Italy (although we’re already proud to have a number of Italian founders in the portfolio). It’s been exciting to see the Italian ecosystem come to life in last couple of years, and produce a number of technology teams with global focus and ambition.
