Israeli company Wix has acquired BASE44, a one-man startup founded by Maor Shlomo, for $80 million—a figure that may increase if the company meets its revenue targets through 2029.
BASE44 has recently captured significant attention in both Israeli and global AI and developer communities, thanks to an intuitive, user-friendly tool built by Shlomo, a 31-year-old programmer, shortly after completing an extended reserve duty call-up that began on October 7. Just six months after founding the company—and as its sole shareholder—Shlomo has already achieved a rapid and notable exit. The company now employs just six people, all of whom were hired in the past month. Until recently, Shlomo ran it entirely on his own.
The tool, developed with a mere five-digit investment, allows anyone to build an app or game without writing a single line of code—using only natural language prompts, similar to ChatGPT. Within a few months, Shlomo built a user base of over 100,000 and signed business partnerships with major Israeli tech firms, including eToro and Similarweb.
Speaking to Calcalist, Shlomo said of the sale: “There’s no better match. Wix is likely the only company that can help us scale and reach the distribution we envision, without slowing development—possibly even accelerating it. Our market is massive, with the potential to replace entire categories of software, simply because our system enables people to build what they need instead of buying it.”
Despite his age, this is not Shlomo’s first startup. Before the war, he was CEO of Explorium, a startup he co-founded in 2017 that developed big data-based predictive tools. Explorium is a more established company with over 100 employees and roughly $125 million raised, mostly led by Insight Partners.
For Wix—a company that itself enables website creation without code—the acquisition is a natural response to the growing influence of AI. Now, it can integrate BASE44’s solution into its own tools and allow customers to build apps quickly and easily.
Shlomo launched Explorium at age 24, right after completing a long service in military intelligence. After returning from reserve duty at the end of 2024, he chose not to return to Explorium but instead began work on BASE44—not initially as a formal company, but as a personal side project that began during a post-duty trip.
According to data Shlomo shared on LinkedIn and X, where he is very active, about half of BASE44’s users are from the U.S., a quarter from Israel, and the rest from around the world. Two weeks ago, he reported that the company made $189,000 in profit in May—well above his expectation of $100,000. Wix itself was a loss-making company until recently, despite generating over $1 billion in revenue.
BASE44 isn’t alone in this space. It faces notable competition from companies like Swedish-based Lovable. The sector belongs to an emerging field known as “Vibe Coding”—a new approach that replaces traditional code writing with intent-based development, where users simply describe what they want, and the AI-powered platform handles the execution without any coding.
BASE44 offers a conversational interface that lets users focus solely on what they want to build, while the system handles all technical aspects behind the scenes—such as database creation, permission settings, and deployment. This makes it possible for even non-technical users to build fully functional applications quickly and easily.
Wix estimates the acquisition will have minimal impact on its 2025 revenue and bookings, though it will record $25 million in expenses for BASE44 employee salaries and equity compensation this year. Like many tech companies, Wix is feeling the impact of the AI revolution and announced several new AI-based products with its Q1 2025 earnings report. Among them is Wixel, a new AI-powered visual design platform.
Shlomo recalled the tense timing of the acquisition: “The lawyers finalized the deal Thursday night, and the signing was scheduled for Friday morning—the same morning the war with Iran broke out. It really highlights the impossible business conditions in Israel.”
Nonetheless, Wix and BASE44 are moving forward. “I’m now a Wix employee, but we’re keeping the brand and product separate so we can pursue our vision, which has the potential to completely transform enterprise software. There’s a rare opportunity here to build something homegrown that truly moves the needle,” Shlomo said.
“It’s true that this started as a side project, but if we succeed in our vision, every individual and organization will be able to build the software they need to solve their specific challenges. We’ve already seen customers—both private and corporate—use BASE44 to build project management systems, CRMs, and more, without any coding experience. Despite growing quickly, reaching millions in revenue, and being profitable from day one, I realized that to play in the big leagues, we needed a strong partner. The market moves fast, and the acquisition increases our chances of success. There were other interested buyers, but we felt Wix was the best fit culturally.”
Wix President Nir Zohar confirmed that the company evaluated several other candidates but concluded that, even though BASE44 is currently smaller than rivals like Lovable AI and Bolt AI, its approach is more effective.
Wix co-founder and CEO Avishai Abrahami added: “Wixel will do for design what Wix did for website creation—it will put creative control in the hands of everyone.” Wix also launched Astro, a personal assistant that helps users navigate the platform and take advantage of its more advanced features.
