Key Takeaways
- Alphabet is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire the cloud security startup Wiz.
- If it goes through, the $23 billion would be Google’s largest-ever acquisition.
- Wiz has made waves in the cybersecurity space and is among the fastest-growing software companies of all time.
Google parent company Alphabet is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Wiz for as much as $23 billion. If the deal goes through, it would mark the Big Tech firm’s largest ever, nearly doubling the record $12.5 billion it paid for Motorolla Mobility in 2012.
Outside the field of cybersecurity, Wiz is far from a household name. So what makes the company such a hot property, and what is Google set to gain from the acquisition?
The Fastest-Growing Software Company Ever
For Wiz’s 4 co-founders, the startup’s success marks the second time they have built a successful cybersecurity venture, having previously sold Adallom to Microsoft for $250 million in 2015.
Like Adallom before it, Wiz provides security services for enterprises’ cloud operations. Thanks to its founders’ proven track record in the space, the company rapidly closed a $100M Series A just nine months after its founding. Within another five months, in May 2021, that round was followed by a $120 million Series B that valued Wiz at $1.7 billion.
In August 2022, the company had reached $100 million in annual revenues, a feat it managed to achieve faster than any software company previously.
With revenues continuing to soar, Wiz generated about $350 million in 2023, helping it secure an additional $1 billion investment in May 2024 at a $12 billion valuation.
Wiz Company Overview
Emerging out of Israel’s thriving cybersecurity sector, Wiz’s strong financials stem from the success of its primary software platform—Wiz Cloud.
Aimed at companies that need to manage often-complex cloud operations across multiple providers, Wiz Cloud connects to platforms operated by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Google and others, providing important visibility for security purposes.
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Reflecting a wider trend in cybersecurity, integrated artificial intelligence helps detect vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance issues in real-time, allowing organizations to address potential threats before they can be exploited.
In just a few years, Wiz has acquired a string of major clients and counts companies such as DocuSign, Snowflake, and Salesforce among its users.
Google’s Interest in Wiz
For Alphabet, Wiz’s platform has synergies with the extensive range of Google Cloud services. There is also precedent for Big Tech firms snapping up cloud security startups to bolster their existing offerings.
Since 2015, Adallom has been rebranded as Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Meanwhile, although it retained the Mandiant brand, Alphabet now operates the incident management software and consultancy services it acquired in 2022 as a sub-branch of its wider cloud security suite.
Among the 3 largest cloud providers, Google is currently outmuscled by Microsoft and AWS. According to Statista , while AWS and Microsoft took a 31% and 25% share of the global market in Q1, 2024, Google’s share was just 11%. Yet all three are spending billions to ensure their continued success as AI transforms the cloud market.
Despite being the smallest of the major hyperscalers, Google’s market share has been growing in recent years and the firm’s spending on cloud security could help it compete with its Big Tech cloud rivals.
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