Six-month old Israeli startup is bought up by website builder Wix for $80 million

Six months after coming out of stealth, Israeli AI-based app creator startup Base44 has been snapped up by Wix, a popular maker of do-it-yourself (DIY) website building software, for $80 million.

Founded by 31-year-old CEO Maor Shlomo, Base44 is the developer of an AI-based platform that allows users without a technical background to build tools to create websites and applications, including games, by writing simple text prompts.

The platform can be used to build simple tools such as a digital art studios in which you upload drawings and generate a storybook, or a to-do-list app to manage tasks.

Base44’s automated, chat-based interface also allows small businesses, such as restaurants, to build an app for managing invoices and expenses, using natural language, without any need for traditional coding.

To date, over 10,000 companies are using the Base44 platform and more than 1,300 of them are paying customers, mostly individuals.

The Wix eCommerce platform provides online stores, service providers, restaurants and event organizers with DIY tools to create, manage and grow their business online. The acquisition of Base44 comes less than a month after Wix bought Tel Aviv-based startup Hour One, to bolster its web creator and content offerings with generative AI-based video production tools.

Maor Shlomo, founder and CEO of Israeli startup Base44. (Courtesy)

“This acquisition marks a pivotal milestone in Wix’s commitment to transforming creation online,” said Wix CEO and co-founder Avishai Abrahami. “Maor and his team at Base44 bring cutting-edge technology, strong market penetration, and visionary leadership that seamlessly align with Wix’s dedication to enabling users at all levels of expertise to express their intent while intelligent agents manage execution.”

“Maor’s exceptional talent and innovative mindset will reinforce Wix’s mission to push the boundaries of AI-driven creation and  accelerate the evolution of intuitive, intelligent tools that redefine how digital experiences are built and enjoyed,” Abrahami added.

Founded in 2006, Wix is one of Israel’s flagship tech firms and is listed on the Nasdaq with a market cap of about $8.82 billion. The firm employs about 5,300 people and has about 288 million registered users.

Using Wix’s website building software platform, merchants can sell through multiple sales channels including web and mobile storefronts, social media, online marketplaces and physical retail locations, as well as manage and track inventory, orders, and do payment and brand marketing.

“Our market is massive,” said Base44’s Shlomo. “It has the potential to replace entire software categories by enabling people to create software instead of buying it.”

“Wix’s DNA – its customer obsession, innovation, and speed – perfectly aligns with ours, and its scale will catapult Base44 forward at exactly the right time,” he said.

During the prolonged war with the Hamas terror group, since October 7, 2023, Shlomo was an adviser to a large nonprofit organization. Sharing his journey on LinkedIn, Shlomo said that the work with the nonprofit war the trigger to start Base44 as a side project.

An illustration of the Wix.com ecommerce platform in action (Courtesy)

“As a large organization, they had many software needs – but no in-house developers – like many other nonprofits… they needed some simple tools: internal portals, back-office systems,” Shlomo wrote in a LinkedIn post. “Every agency they talked to quoted them over $1 million to build even the basics, and a process that would take months – that moment stuck with me.

“These are the kinds of organizations that are supposed to change the world,
but many times the tools they need – even the simplest ones – are so completely out of reach – It’s one of the main reasons I decided to double down on the Base44 idea,” he said.