How Estonia’s Storadera Tackles Global Cloud Storage Challenges

Where your data lives and who can legally access it is becoming a core consideration for businesses, governments, and individuals. From regulatory changes to rising geopolitical tension, cloud infrastructure is increasingly shaped by political decisions as much as technical ones.

A shift is quietly taking shape in response to rising data sovereignty concerns. Across Europe and beyond, organizations are beginning to explore alternatives to American hyperscalers. Rather than abandoning AWS, Google, or Microsoft, many are exploring options to remove data vulnerabilities.

Techopedia recently caught up with Tommi Kannisto, founder of Storadera, to unpack how the company is building differently, why sovereignty matters more than ever, and what makes Estonia such fertile ground for cloud innovation.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. A Purpose-Built Alternative to Hyperscalers
3. Simple Infrastructure, Real-World Efficiency
4. No hidden fees
5. Data Sovereignty as a Business Priority
6. Growing Across Borders
7. Where AI Fits in
8. Estonia's Startup Spirit
9. The Bottom Line
10. FAQs
11. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. A Purpose-Built Alternative to Hyperscalers
3. Simple Infrastructure, Real-World Efficiency
Show Full Guide
4. No hidden fees
5. Data Sovereignty as a Business Priority
6. Growing Across Borders
7. Where AI Fits in
8. Estonia's Startup Spirit
9. The Bottom Line
10. FAQs
11. References

A Purpose-Built Alternative to Hyperscalers

Tommi Kannisto didn’t start Storadera because he wanted to replicate what AWS or Google Cloud already offer. He wanted something simpler. In his own words, Storadera was about answering a direct question: “Is it possible to offer storage that’s S3-compatible without making the usual compromises on reliability or security, yet still keep it affordable?” This clear, direct objective set Storadera apart from day one.

Rather than adopting off-the-shelf solutions, Storadera developed its own storage software. The system mimics the S3 interface for compatibility, but under the surface, it’s built from the ground up.

“The real magic happens behind this compatibility layer,” Kannisto said.

Their platform uses traditional spinning disks instead of expensive SSDs, and the software is designed to handle small files with consistent performance.

“We can write small files now. That sounds very specific, but it shows how much effort we’ve put into this,” Kannistro added.

Simple Infrastructure, Real-World Efficiency

There are no separate gateways or load balancers. That simplification isn’t common, but it helps avoid hidden costs and reduces failure points. “There are no bottlenecks, no extra hardware layers. This also helps us keep our internal costs down,” Kannisto said.

It’s a clean, hyper-converged setup. But unlike many who use that label as a marketing term, Storadera arrived at this design by stripping away anything unnecessary.

No hidden fees

One of the most consistent frustrations with cloud storage is pricing. Even when the per-terabyte cost looks attractive at first glance, the final bill often includes charges for bandwidth, retrievals, requests, and location-based differences.

Storadera has taken the opposite approach. The company charges €6 per terabyte per month. No egress fees. No request charges. No complex tiering.

Kannisto explained:

“Everybody else has some hidden or not-so-hidden extra fees that make it complex to understand how much it will cost for you. That’s why customers choose us.”

Storadera offers built-in multi-tenant functionality, so partners can manage end customers directly, monitor usage, and handle billing without needing extra tooling.

Data Sovereignty as a Business Priority

If you’ve been following international headlines lately, it’s easy to see why data residency is rising on the agenda. Conflicts, trade restrictions, and regulatory shifts have made data storage choices more than an IT decision.

There’s a noticeable shift toward local data storage solutions because of increased global uncertainty. Businesses want their data to be closer and more securely stored within clear jurisdictions.

Tommi Kannisto told Techopedia:

“It’s important that we offer all IT services in Europe for Europe. Canada is also starting to look more towards Europe than the US, even before the latest tariffs and political changes.”

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has already introduced a strong push for local control. But beyond compliance, there’s a growing recognition that data location affects security, legal exposure, and long-term strategy.

“Customers choose their data location strategically. Some prefer it nearby, while others might store their data slightly further away to ensure continuity and security,” Kannisto explained.

Growing Across Borders

While Storadera is firmly rooted in Estonia, its customer base is increasingly international. The company operates two data centers, one in Estonia and one in the Netherlands, serving clients across Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and Brazil.

“Less than half of our customers are from Estonia. More than half are outside Estonia,” Kannisto said. “Some want their data close for latency reasons. Others choose us to reduce risk, especially in the event of a failure at a single data center.”

To support that growth, Storadera has introduced a waitlist on its website. Companies can register interest in having local data centers, and that input helps inform their future expansion.

Where AI Fits in

Unlike many startups touting AI for headline value, Storadera takes a measured approach. They see it as a tool, not a product.

“At the moment, we don’t use any AI in our software,” Kannisto said. “But in our roadmap, we have plans to optimize reading and deleting.” Because the platform runs on spinning disks, random reads and deletes are harder to optimize than writes.

They’ve already solved write performance, but now they’re exploring how predictive algorithms could improve performance during data retrieval and deletion.

“This again lowers our internal costs,” Kannisto said. “It allows us to keep our pricing where it is, while continuing to improve service.”

Estonia’s Startup Spirit

Storadera isn’t just a product of technical vision. It’s part of a much broader culture of innovation in Estonia, a country that has consistently punched above its weight in tech.

With a population of just 1.37 million, Estonia has produced over ten unicorns and is widely known for its digital-first government systems and digital society.

Corporate taxes steal these resources before a company even finds product-market fit.

Let’s look at what’s already working in parts of Europe:

Estonia’s 0% tax on retained earnings has it into a startup powerhouse (7.7 unicorns per 1M people – highest in Europe). pic.twitter.com/mzo1sVDKBs

— Ole Lehmann (@itsolelehmann) May 8, 2025

Recollecting his personal experience, Kannisto said:

“When I started, it was quite okay just to approach a random CEO or experienced founder in the country and ask them for a call. If they had time, they would help.”

That kind of openness is hard to replicate, and it helps explain why Estonia continues to produce globally relevant companies.

“There’s a group you can turn to if you need advice,” Kannisto said. “That’s important because it helps young people imagine themselves doing something great.”

The Bottom Line

Storadera isn’t trying to be everything to everyone. Its focus is sharp. Affordable, secure, and transparent cloud storage that serves customers who want clarity and control over where their data lives.

They are not competing on scale, but on principle. If pricing simplicity, predictable performance, and local storage matter to your organization, this Estonian startup is one of the increasing number of alternatives worth exploring.

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