Founded in 2020 by Assaf Rappaport and his team, Wiz is a startup specialising in cloud security. The firm's goal is to streamline and bolster the security of cloud environments, aiding organisations in identifying and mitigating potential vulnerabilities before cyber attackers can exploit them.

Wiz's platform provides extensive visibility into the security status of cloud infrastructure. It combines threat detection, risk assessment, and automated remediation to safeguard cloud environments. The platform is renowned for its seamless integration with major cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, offering real-time monitoring and security analytics.

Wiz has recently garnered attention by raising $1 billion in a private funding round, bringing its valuation to $12 billion. In 2023, Wiz reported revenues of $350 million and had already established partnerships with 40% of Fortune 100 companies.

Earlier this month, reports indicated that Alphabet was in advanced talks to acquire Wiz for approximately $23 billion, nearly double its most recent valuation.

In a company memo, Assaf Rappaport, Wiz’s CEO, announced that the company will instead focus on an initial public offering, as originally planned, with the ambition of achieving an annual recurring revenue of $1 billion.

Had the deal gone through, it would have been Alphabet's second big acquisition in the cybersecurity sector, following its $5.4 billion purchase of Mandiant in 2022.

Neither Wiz nor Alphabet have released an official statement regarding the recent developments.