Israeli coder Maor Shlomo sells six-month AI startup Base44 to Wix for $80M in landmark all-cash deal
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Israeli coder Maor Shlomo sold his six‑month‑old, self‑funded startup Base44 to Wix for $80 million in cash. The deal, announced June 18, marks a striking example of how AI and 'vibe coding' are empowering individuals and not just big teams to build the next generation of softwareAt 31, Shlomo isn't new to success. Fresh off his AI analytics venture, Explorium , which raised around $125 million and was backed by Insight Partners, he started Base44 as a side project post-IDF reserve duty in late 2024.'It began as something I'd tinker with,' he told CTech. By January, it had coalesced into a legit company.Base44 lets anyone create full-featured web and mobile apps simply by describing what they want, no code, no developer team required. Users draft 'prompts' like they would chat with ChatGPT, and Base44 handles authentication, databases, analytics, email, and even mapsIn May alone, it generated a $189,000 profit, impressive, given high LLM token costs.The traction was rapid, 100,000 users in weeks, scaling to over 250,000 within months. Partnerships with eToro and Similarweb followed, and AWS spotlighted Demo Day invitesOn LinkedIn, Shlomo shared early struggles and tips, 'Push to production 13 times a day stability is not perfect, but good enough,' he wroteWix, known for no‑code website tools, aims to fold Base44 into its offerings without disrupting its identity. Shlomo, now a Wix employee, assured users on X that 'nothing changes too much , better support, faster product velocity, B2B features.'Wix confirmed an additional $25 million retention bonus for Base44's eight-person teamAs Shlomo told Calcalist, 'Wix is probably the only company that can help us scale and distribute globally without slowing down our development.'Base44's rapid rise and impressive sale price have been the talk of the vibe-coding community.
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