Alphabet, parent company of Google, is in talks to buy cloud security specialist Wiz for approximately $28 billion, numerous news outlets reported Monday.
Offering an all-in-one approach to cloud security, Wiz relies on ingesting data from various cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and then scanning it all for security risk factors.
Alphabet executives see the deal as a way to fortify Google’s cloud business, which grew 28% to $9.57 billion in the first quarter of this year, TechCrunch reported. The news comes two months after Wiz announced raising a $1 billion Series E at a $12 billion valuation. Founded four years ago by a group of former Microsoft employes, Wiz has raised a total of $1.9 billion.
If the Alphabet comes to fruition, it would be a rare example of a major technology company attempting a mega-deal amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of the sector under the Biden administration, Reuters reported. In recent years, U.S. regulators have indicated growing aversion to large technology companies getting bigger through acquisitions.
Wiz Builds Valuation in Years Following Startup
On May 7, The Wall Street Journal reported that Wiz raised $1 billion in a deal valuing the fast-growing cloud security startup at $12 billion. The funding round, which brought the company’s total funding to $1.9 billion, was led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Thrive Capital. Greylock Partners, Wellington Management and existing investors Cyberstarts, Greenoaks, Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia Capital and former Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz also participated.
In April, Wiz bolstered its cloud security business with the acquisition of Gem Security. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Checkmarx recently announced an expansion of their existing partnership with Wiz in a first-of-its-kind integration providing static application security testing (SAST) results to a cloud-native application protection (CNAPP) vendor.
In September 2023, MSSP Alert reported that SentinelOne denied Wiz being a possible acquisition, and that it had terminated a six-month long resale partnership with Wiz, claiming that the deal did not add to its cloud security business. Officials stressed that it was not terminating a relationship with Wiz but rather ending a resale agreement.
In March 2022, Alphabet bought cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4 billion as part of its efforts to help companies better address cyber threats and bolster its cloud computing business.
