The startup world has long speculated that advances in artificial intelligence could make it possible for individuals to build billion-dollar companies alone so-called “solo unicorns.” While that dream still remains distant, a recent acquisition has renewed excitement around the concept.
Maor Shlomo, an Israeli software developer, has sold his AI-powered startup Base44 to website-building platform Wix for a whopping $80 million just six months after launching it. The deal, completed entirely in cash, highlights how rapidly AI-driven tools can scale when they meet a market need.
Although Shlomo wasn’t operating completely solo Base44 had a team of eight people the speed of growth and profitability drew attention. As part of the acquisition, $25 million of the total will be allocated to team retention bonuses, though details about the conditions have not been disclosed.
Launched as a side project, Base44 aimed to simplify app development through natural language prompts. Users could describe what they needed in plain English, and the platform would generate a full-fledged application — including features like databases, authentication, messaging, and analytics. Designed for both technical and non-technical users, the platform is part of a growing trend in AI-led “vibe coding,” which allows users to build software with minimal coding experience.
The startup saw impressive user growth, reaching over 250,000 users in half a year, including 10,000 in its first three weeks. By May, it was reportedly profitable, earning $189,000 in a single month, even while absorbing the high cost of language model usage.
Shlomo openly shared his development journey on platforms like LinkedIn and X, building a strong online following. His transparent updates on profits, platform choices, and development strategies helped spread awareness about Base44 organically.
In his public posts, he described the startup as a “moonshot” to make software development accessible to everyone. The platform soon gained traction in the Israeli tech ecosystem, with companies like eToro and Similarweb among its early partners.
Interestingly, Shlomo also chose to run Base44 using Claude, a large language model by Anthropic, through AWS preferring it over OpenAI’s models due to cost efficiency. This decision earned him an invite to present at a recent AWS event in Tel Aviv.
His entrepreneurial journey isn’t new to the startup space. He previously co-founded Explorium, a data analytics firm backed by global investors, and comes from a family of entrepreneurs his brother recently raised $20 million for an AI security startup.
Announcing the acquisition on LinkedIn, Shlomo called the journey “crazy,” explaining that while Base44 was profitable and scaling fast, the resources of a larger company like Wix were essential to achieve the next level. “We’ve reached this far bootstrapped now we’re ready to scale with full firepower,” he wrote.
For Wix, the acquisition makes strategic sense. The company, known for its no-code website tools, adds a powerful AI-driven development platform to its product suite. In an increasingly competitive tech landscape, this move strengthens Wix’s position in the fast-evolving world of no-code and AI-enabled software building.
Though this wasn’t the billion-dollar solo success that AI evangelists dream of, it is a strong signal of what’s possible in today’s tech ecosystem with the right idea, the right tools, and a smart execution strategy.
