Post-acquisition, Shlomo remains CEO but delegates marketing and community support to his team, focusing on strategic growth and work-life balance, while planning to keep Base44 somewhat independent within Wix.

Within just a few months, the startup grew rapidly, reaching 350,000 users and generating approximately $200,000 in monthly revenue without external funding, with Shlomo turning down several investment offers.

Shlomo's resilience is rooted in overcoming a challenging year involving military reserve duty and his mother’s cancer, with his success driven by strong family support and a passion for building products.

His unconventional path includes service in Israel's military intelligence and founding a data startup, Explorium, which contributed to his entrepreneurial journey.

Shlomo sought advice from Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami, who was impressed by Base44’s ability to build full applications and recognized its potential, leading to discussions that culminated in an acquisition.

Despite Wix’s stock declining about 40% over the past six months amid market concerns about AI disruption, the acquisition of Base44 is expected to add around $50 million annually to Wix’s revenue.

The acquisition faced a security incident in July when Wiz disclosed a vulnerability in Base44, but it was swiftly addressed with Wix’s security support, highlighting the importance of corporate backing.

Shlomo views the AI revolution as potentially larger than the internet era and plans to maintain startup-like agility within Wix, aiming to scale globally and continue innovating in AI-powered software.

Maor Shlomo, an Israeli software developer, founded Base44, an AI-driven platform that simplifies building software by allowing users to describe their needs in words, making app creation accessible to non-technical users.

Launched in February 2025, Base44 quickly gained popularity among casual and non-technical users by automating complex development tasks and reducing manual setup, differentiating itself from competitors.

Inspired by personal frustrations in building a website for a friend, Shlomo developed Base44 using AI models like GPT-4 and later Claude 3.5 to improve results, aiming to democratize software creation for small businesses.

In June 2025, Wix acquired Base44 for $80 million, with $25 million allocated as a retention bonus, allowing the startup to remain somewhat independent within Wix while leveraging its resources.