Israeli start-up Wiz may be acquired by Google in largest-ever deal for Israeli hi-tech company

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Israeli start-up company Wiz may soon be sold to Google's parent company, Alphabet, for roughly $23 billion, according to sources familiar with ongoing negotiations, reported The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

If the deal goes through, it will be the largest deal ever made in Israeli hi-tech after Intel bought Mobileye for $15.3 billion in 2017.

Wiz offers cybersecurity software specifically designed for cloud computing environments. The company focuses on providing advanced cloud security solutions that help organizations detect and mitigate potential security risks in their cloud infrastructure.

The software uses a simple interface to scan everything in the cloud, checking network setups, access permissions, and configurations for potential problems. It also looks at applications and software for vulnerabilities. The platform then combines all this information to give a clear picture of the most important risks in the cloud by considering many different risk factors and how they relate to each other.

The company was established by CEO Assaf Rappaport, VP of Products Yinon Costica, VP of Technologies Ami Lutwak, and VP of Research and Development Roy Reznik. This team has a long history of collaboration, spanning over two decades, including their leadership roles in Microsoft's cloud security division. They previously founded Adallom, a company that Microsoft acquired for around $320 million in 2015.

Wiz reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue after 18 months and achieved $350 million in annual recurring revenue in 2023, making it the fastest-growing software company in the world.

“Wiz's growth to date has been unprecedented, and we have reached a point where a strong infrastructure needs to be built to continue breaking records and leading the market. Our goal now is to reach one billion dollars in sales and go public in New York,” Wiz President and COO Dali Rajic told Calcalist in a May interview.

Prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists back the company, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

If the deal goes through, it would be the largest acquisition Google has ever made, nearly doubling its previous record purchase of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in 2012. With a market value of $2 trillion, this acquisition would mark a significant expansion for the tech giant.

Google spent nearly $5.4 billion two years ago to acquire another security company, Mandiant; another $2.1 billion on Fitbit in 2021, and $3.2 billion on Nest Labs in 2014. Other acquisitions have included YouTube, DoubleClick, Looker and Waze.

According to the WSJ, Google has a lot less strength in the cloud-computing market than it has in search and online advertising, but is heavily investing in the business. Last year, Google’s cloud business grew by 26%.