Google's parent company Alphabet is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity firm Wiz for approximately $23 billion. The deal, if it goes through, would be the largest acquisition in Alphabet's history and a significant move to strengthen its presence in the cloud security space.
Wiz offers an all-in-one approach to cloud security by ingesting data from various cloud platforms including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The company had raised a total of $1.9 billion in funding with its most recent Series E round valuing the company at $12 billion.
Alphabet executives see the acquisition as a way to fortify Google's cloud business which grew 28% to $9.57 billion in the first quarter of this year. Wiz had $350 million in annual recurring revenue at the time of its most recent funding and was eyeing an IPO with a valuation of $12 billion.
Founded four years ago by Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Yinon Costica, and Roy Reznik, Wiz has attracted investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Thrive Capital, Greylock Partners, Wellington Management Company LLP (WMC), Cyberstarts Ventures Ltd., Greenoaks Capital Management LP (Greenoaks), Index Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.
Google had previously acquired cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4 billion two years ago. The acquisition of Wiz would underline a clear and continued bet on cybersecurity, at a time when nation state and criminal actors have managed to disrupt governments and large organizations.
However, the deal faces potential antitrust scrutiny from regulatory bodies as Google already holds significant market power in various sectors.
