Israeli website building company Wix.com Ltd. (Nasdaq: WIX) has announced the acquisition of Israeli vibe coding company Base44 for an initial payment of $80 million and further milestone payments in 2029. Base44, which was founded last year by CEO Maor Shlomo and only came out of stealth in March 2025 has yet to raise any money and has only six employees who were all hired last month.
According to Wix, Base44’s AI-powered platform, “enables easy, code-free digital creation, through an intuitive conversational AI experience in which users can build custom apps without the need to write code, using natural language (as used in solutions such as ChatGPT).” In the acquisition announcement, the companies noted that Base44 will continue to operate as an independent product and business, while maintaining its unique identity and momentum, and taking advantage of the size and support of Wix, a company that provides solutions for creating and managing websites.
The company’s founder Maor Shlomo was interviewed in March by “Geektime.” He recounted that from October 7 he was in the army reserves for over a year, and then decided to “build a product from scratch.” He also said that by then he had invested only NIS 30,000 of his own money, and the product had already become profitable. In an interview with “Mako”, he said he planned to continue building the company and saw no reason why it would not become a global name. In the same interview, he was asked what people had built using Base44 and mentioned, for example, games and apps that help people with post-traumatic stress disorder and managing volunteer shifts.
Wix expects the deal to have a negligible impact on revenue and bookings in 2025, adding that it will record $25 million in expenses for salaries and capital benefits for the company’s employees this year, as part of the initial consideration in the deal. At the end of the first quarter, Wix had over $1 billion in cash, and $574 million in debt to convertible bondholders, so it will not have difficulty financing the acquisition from its own sources.
Wix cofounder and CEO Avishai Abrahami said, “This acquisition marks a pivotal milestone in Wix’s commitment to transforming creation online. 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.” Shlomo noted that “there is no better fit than this. Wix is probably the only company that can allow us to reach the scale and distribution we are aiming for, without compromising our development pace, and perhaps even accelerating it. Our market is huge, and has the potential to replace entire categories of software, simply because the system allows people to create software themselves instead of purchasing it. Wix’s DNA, constant focus on the customer, innovation, and speed, are a perfect match for ours.”
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Shlomo added, “I honestly can’t think of a better fit. Wix is probably the only company that can help Base44 achieve the scale and distribution it needs while maintaining, if not accelerating, our product velocity. Our market is massive. 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.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on June 18, 2025.
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