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The Base44 Wix acquisition has emerged as a major milestone in the startup world after Israeli developer Maor Shlomo sold his six-month-old AI startup to Wix for $80 million in cash. The deal shows how fast-growing AI platforms, even with small teams and no external funding, can secure major exits.
Wix, the leading no-code website builder, confirmed the acquisition on Wednesday. Although Base44 was not a one-man operation, it ran with a lean team of just eight employees. They will share $25 million as part of a retention bonus included in the deal.
Base44 was launched as a side project and quickly gained momentum. Within six months, it had over 250,000 users and generated a profit of $189,000 in May alone, despite high token costs linked to the use of large language models. Shlomo openly shared growth stats and financials across LinkedIn and X, helping the platform grow organically.
Base44 Wix Acquisition Highlights Rise of Lean AI Startups
The Base44 Wix acquisition reflects the growing trend of lean AI-first startups shaking up the tech space. Base44 is a “vibe coding” tool that allows users to create complete applications through simple text prompts. It supports features like databases, authentication, analytics, email, and maps—all without writing code.
Shlomo’s decision to stay transparent during the product’s development helped Base44 gain traction without paid marketing or external capital. The rapid growth caught the attention of Wix, which now adds a high-potential LLM-powered product to its no-code offerings.
“Despite its youth, Base44 stood out by being profitable, scalable, and fully bootstrapped. Shlomo noted that the decision to sell was based on scaling limitations. “If we got this far organically, I’m excited to see what we can do now with full resources,” he posted.
The Base44 Wix acquisition is another sign that the future of startups may belong to compact, AI-driven teams capable of building and scaling innovative products in record time.
