Arweave-Based ‘Permanent Dropbox’ Raises $1.6M Seed Round

The decentralized file storage startup is betting consumers will latch onto a novel pricing model.

AccessTimeIconMay 19, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. UTC
Updated May 15, 2023 at 1:42 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

ArDrive has raised $1.6 million for its decentralized alternative to cloud storage giants like Dropbox and OneDrive. 

Digital Renaissance Foundation and venture firms D1 and SevenX backed the Arweave-based startup, as did Arweave’s founding team.

The funding gives ArDrive some runway as the business of file storage experiences continues to shift. In China, a run on hard drives has triggered localized shortages and price spikes. Meanwhile, cloud companies such as Dropbox are reporting upticks in revenue and users.

The start-up now stores 570 gigabytes of data atop Arweave’s permanent database, said CEO Phil Mataras: “We just had 50 gigs uploaded two days ago. It's really exploded.”

Those storage numbers are puny against the industry’s top names. Dropbox, for example, offers consumers 2 terabytes of data for $20 a month.

Even so, Mataras believes ArDrive’s strategy – charge by the file, not by the month – gives the eight-person start-up a competitive advantage if “subscription fatigue” begins to take hold.

“People just don’t like having another $9.99 bill to pay,” he said, pointing toward “microtransactions” as a potential workaround. 

In ArDrive’s case, that means charging one-time fees – less than a penny for a Word doc, two for a photo – to store users’ data for eternity.

Sam Williams, Arweave CEO, said ArDrive is becoming a “cornerstone of the ecosystem.”

“It is the way that people right now are uploading data to the network en masse,” he said.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.



Read more about