Eon Co-Founder on Cloud Backups, Marketplace & More

Cloud marketplaces and AI workloads are reshaping how enterprises think about backup—and Eon wants partners at the center of that shift. 

The startup, which emerged from stealth to a $1.4 billion valuation in under a year, is building a cloud-native backup platform designed to integrate tightly with hyperscalers while opening new margin opportunities for the channel.

We spoke with co-founder Gonen Stein about the technology and how it enables partners to earn additional revenue with customers.

How Eon turns cloud backups into AI-ready data assets

The Eon platform automates traditional backup approaches and spans across cloud deployments to scan and classify everything in an organization’s storage. 

The company touts that all backups are available in real-time whenever someone needs to access them.

Eon’s founders initially developed the platform to address often complex backup needs. Still, in recent years, the company has expanded its capabilities to enable companies to get more out of their data once it’s backed up.

“These backups are essentially operating as a data lake,” Stein said. “AI has caught up with us in some exciting ways, because now customers need this data for their AI-related projects and we’re ready to help them.”

“Data officers are becoming customers of their infrastructure teams, and so now we’re seeing those personas enter the conversation in new ways,” he continued.

Why hyperscaler marketplaces are central to Eon’s strategy

Eon integrates and works with all three major hyperscalers, but it shares a specific history with AWS thanks to Stein’s past business experience. 

He sold his last startup venture to AWS and spent four years within the organization post-acquisition, an experience he says gave him a front-row seat to the then-budding world of hyperscaler marketplaces.

“It feels so strange now, but if you rewind for a second, there were no hyperscaler marketplaces,” Stein said.

As AWS began to formulate what is now a massive growth driver, Stein served on several advisory boards within the company to provide his insights on what the giant needed to offer users and partners as it built out a new commerce experience.

Now, Stein says, it’s hard to imagine bringing a solution to market without a marketplace approach from the beginning.

“We always try to meet customers where they are, and they are buying on these marketplaces,” Stein continued, noting that the hyperscalers themselves also benefit from Eon’s cost-saving measure because, in many cases, customers will move those savings to spending on other areas within the ecosystem, unlocking new opportunities for everyone involved.

Eon also announced new work with Azure Fabric during Microsoft Ignite in November, and continues to support Google Cloud customers as well.

Eon bets on partners as cloud backup evolves

The ‘everyone’ in that phrase also includes channel partners, which Stein says are a crucial part of Eon’s go-to-market strategy moving forward.

“We bring real added value to partners, and they bring that to customers,” Stein said. “They have the trust of customers and can benefit from our value prop of helping those customers solve resiliency challenges and automate how they operate their data to extract value from it.”

The platform is designed to slot into environments already running on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, giving resellers and MSPs a way to lead with cost optimization, data resiliency, and AI readiness rather than a like-for-like backup pitch. 

That approach, he said, allows partners to attach Eon to broader cloud modernization, security, and data initiatives, all of which will remain in high demand in 2026.

Why Eon sees backup as a new revenue engine

Stein told Channel Insider that the partners Eon works with see added value from the platform, not just on a technical level, but also in a business sense.

“Since we have created the platform and we sell the entirety of the storage, we can provide partners with regular margins, something they often don’t see when it comes to storage resale,” said Stein.

Those regular margins, according to Stein, can provide a partner with almost a quarter of the deal back. That, coupled with the fact that the partner can reduce costs for their customers, means partners can unlock revenue for themselves and their end users.

Why MSPs and integrators are Eon’s next channel priority

Eon already works with large reseller partners, but Stein has his sights set on expanding the partner ecosystem significantly in 2026.

Specifically, he says the company is preparing to attract MSPs and integrators, noting that those partner types require a level of enablement and strategic partnership that Eon is building now to ensure future success.

“You want to get to a certain level of stability before you widen the base, and I think we’re finally getting there, with all of the growth we’ve had,” Stein said. “We expect to grow substantially, and the channel is a huge part of that.”

That expected growth stems from the momentum the team is bringing into 2026. Eon emerged from stealth to a $1.4B valuation in under a year, is backed by firms including Sequoia, and continues to deepen its partnerships with leading infrastructure players.

“It really seems like it’s ours to lose heading into next year,” said Stein.