What Is Bending Spoons? Everything To Know About Aol’s Acquirer

Bending Spoons’ 4 cofounders this week joined nan billionaire ranks.

CEO Luca Ferrari’s liking successful nan Milan-based tech conglomerate is now reportedly worthy $1.4 billion, while cofounders Matteo Danieli, Luca Querella, and Francesco Patarnello each clasp stakes worthy $1.3 billion, according to Forbes estimates based connected shareholder information published by nan Italian Business Register.

The valuations travel connected nan heels of Bending Spoons’ latest backing round: $270 cardinal from investors including T. Rowe Price and earlier backers Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, Durable Capital Partners, and Fidelity, positive a $440 cardinal secondary stock waste by existing shareholders. It’s unclear whether immoderate of nan cofounders sold banal successful nan secondary transaction. Bending Spoons has declined to remark connected its cofounders’ stakes.

Despite its catchy name, Bending Spoons has stayed remarkably nether nan radar. The 12-year-old outfit typically makes headlines only erstwhile it adds different recognizable marque to its increasing portfolio — astir precocious this past week, when it agreed to get AOL. for an undisclosed amount.

But Bending Spoons isn’t a accepted backstage equity patient aliases a axenic financial finance vehicle. Its attraction is connected acquiring underperforming but celebrated tech brands, past transforming them to service millions of users much efficiently. 

The institution tends to make news erstwhile it restructures these acquired companies, often done significant layoffs, aliases makes controversial changes to beloved products — aliases some successful nan lawsuit of Evernote and WeTransfer.

Still, Bending Spoons itself remains mostly unknown, moreover though its roster of products has served much than a cardinal people, pinch complete 300 cardinal monthly progressive users and 10 cardinal paying customers. Here’s what you request to cognize astir nan institution reshaping immoderate of nan internet’s astir recognizable brands.

What is Bending Spoons?

Bending Spoons describes itself arsenic a institution that acquires and transforms integer businesses. Having grown to a headcount of 400 to 500 “Spooners,” its main attraction is connected making improvements to products and services that others person created.

However, it didn’t commencement that measurement — nan Bending Spoons’ founders had taken a stab astatine building their ain apps and products earlier yet shifting their focus.

The little-known backstory is that Bending Spoons was calved retired of nan remains of Evertale, a Copenhagen-based startup that participated successful Disrupt SF 2011’s Startup Alley and raised seed funding for its photo sharing app, Wink. 

Evertale grounded not agelong after, and investors sewage an out, but its founders and a mates of labor kept moving together, initially connected in-house apps. Soon enough, nan squad made its first acquisition, followed by galore others, CEO and cofounder Luca Ferrari told nan 20VC podcast in a uncommon interview. 

In 2020, Bending Spoons made an objection erstwhile it created and donated Immuni, Italy’s charismatic COVID-19 interaction tracing app. But different than that, it has mostly been honing a formula: Bending Spoons identifies a celebrated merchandise it thinks it tin amended wrong and out, and buys it from owners who person reached their limits.

After nan acquisition, Bending Spoons is thing but a passive owner, making changes to nan products’ personification acquisition and features but besides to nan underlying tech and astir notably to outsiders, to monetization — including pricing — and squad statement — including headcount.

While this attraction connected ratio and gross overlaps pinch backstage equity strategies, Bending Spoons claims a cardinal difference: it “aims to clasp forever, and has ne'er sold an acquired business.” It is building a unrecorded portfolio, not collecting net relics aliases presiding complete a tech graveyard.

To beryllium clear, Bending Spoons’ acquisition targets truthful acold haven’t needfully been failing businesses — galore still had important personification bases and revenue. But they’ve tended to beryllium stagnant, neglected, aliases had owners looking to exit. Let’s recap these cardinal deals, and besides what happened successful their aftermath.

What companies has Bending Spoons acquired?

While Bending Spoons acquired respective companies betwixt 2014 and 2021, including AI photograph enhancer Remini, its astir notable acquisitions happened much recently.

In 2022, it acquired Filmic, known for its celebrated video and photograph editing apps, and laid disconnected nan full staff successful December 2023.

In a woody besides announced successful 2022 and finalized successful early 2023, Bending Spoons besides cquired Evernote, nan note-taking app that had reportedly reached a $1 cardinal valuation earlier hitting trouble. Layoffs followed nan acquisition, arsenic good arsenic cuts to Evernote’s free offering.

The first half of pursuing year, 2024, was peculiarly active, pinch nan acquisition of Meetup, app shaper Mosaic Group, and Hopin’s StreamYard successful nan first half of nan year. 

In July 2024, it went connected to get nan publishing level Issuu and nan record transportation work WeTransfer, wherever it later cut staff and made changes to its free plan, introducing stricter limits. Later successful nan year, Bending Spoons announced it would walk $233 million connected an all-cash take-private woody to get video level Brightcove. 

The acquisitions person continued apace successful 2025, pinch acquisitions that see nan outdoors way planner Komoot and guidance package shaper Harvest. 

Bending Spoons besides announced its volition to acquire Vimeo successful a $1.38 cardinal all-cash deal, and moreover much recently, to get AOL from Yahoo. (Disclosure: some AOL and Yahoo are erstwhile owners of TechCrunch, successful which Yahoo retains a mini interest.) 

According to Bending Spoons, nan acquisitions of AOL and Vimeo are expected to adjacent by nan extremity of nan year, taxable to modular closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including, successful nan lawsuit of Vimeo, support by its stockholders. 

How overmuch is Bending Spoons worth?

As of nan extremity of October 2025, Bending Spoons is 1 of Europe’s uncommon tech decacorns (companies weighted astatine much than $10 billion). The startup past raised astatine a $2.8 cardinal valuation successful 2024, making its newest latest information a important measurement up.

Though agelong bootstrapped, Bending Spoons had antecedently raised equity financing several times, including in September 2022 and early 2024. It besides has VIPs connected its headdress table, including tennis and intermezo stars Andre Agassi and Bradley Cooper; tech manufacture bigs Eric Schmidt, Mike Krieger, and Xavier Niel; and performers The Weeknd, The Chainsmokers, and Maluma.

According to Bending Spoons, its caller backing will support early acquisitions and finance successful its proprietary exertion and AI capabilities. This comes successful summation to nan $2.8 cardinal successful indebtedness financing nan institution disclosed arsenic it announced its volition to get AOL, indebtedness that will money nan AOL woody and early acquisitions.

What’s next?

Bending Spoons says it intends to proceed pursuing caller acquisitions that grow its portfolio of user and endeavor integer products, and it now has backing to spend much salient targets going forward.

AOL and Vimeo already transportation acold much sanction nickname than earlier targets, moreover if woody position stay undisclosed. The properties besides person immoderate reach. In announcing nan AOL deal, Bending Spoons claimed that AOL remains 1 of nan apical 10 most-used email providers successful nan world, pinch 8 cardinal regular progressive users and 30 cardinal monthly progressive users. (Not agelong earlier acquiring AOL, Bending Spoons was besides rumored to beryllium eyeing app shaper Elysium and Typeform, nan Barcelona-based SaaS institution known for its shape creation tools.)

Presumably to support its continued efforts to get companies, it besides has openings crossed various roles, pinch caller hires initially moving from its Milan office earlier gaining nan action to activity from offices successful London, Madrid, and Warsaw, aliases remotely.

In fact, contempt informing candidates that Bending Spoons is simply a “demanding environment,” nan institution has said it already received much than 600,000 occupation applications successful 2025, a fig that will apt climb arsenic its caller deals make further attention.