Wiz rejects $23 billion Google deal

“While we are honored by the offers we have received, we have decided to continue on our path to building Wiz,” CEO Assaf Rappaport wrote in the memo. Rappaport added in the email that the company’s next goal is to reach $1 billion in annual recurring revenue and take the company public.

A source familiar with the matter told Fortune that Wiz investors fully support the move. From Rappaport and Wiz’s perspective, the decision to back out of a possible deal with the tech giant came down to a simple calculation: Wiz is already big enough to pursue an IPO on its own, which is the company’s ultimate goal, the source said.

Expected regulatory scrutiny over the deal, which would constitute the largest acquisition in Google’s history, may also have contributed to Wiz’s decision to go it alone.

“The market validation we’ve experienced with this news only reinforces our goal of building a platform that both security and development teams can love,” Rappaport wrote. “We’re grateful for the trust our employees, investors, and customers have in us as we build the best cybersecurity company in the world.”

Speaking at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference last week, Rappaport said the cybersecurity industry is ripe for consolidation. Still, he noted that IPOs and acquisitions are just “milestones” on a longer journey.

“That’s the mindset we always have – being private, being public and being a startup.”

Rappaport’s interview with Brainstorm Tech is the only place he has spoken publicly since news of the possible deal broke.

The four-year-old startup, with offices in New York and Tel Aviv, Israel, raised a whopping $1 billion in venture capital funding earlier this year at a $12 billion valuation. The company said at the time it planned to use the capital to further expand and pursue acquisitions.

Wiz investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Thrive Capital, Index Ventures, Cyberstarts, Greylock, Greenoaks, Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management.

Google has not yet responded to Fortune’s request for comment.