Bending Spoons

Bending Spoons has made its entry into the Nasdaq with a debut that caught the attention of financial markets. The Italian company, specialized in acquiring and revitalizing software and digital service companies, raised $1.68 billion through the sale of 58 million shares at a price of $29 each. At the end of the first trading day, the stock closed at $40.50, up nearly 40%, bringing the market capitalization to approximately $25.7 billion, well beyond the estimated $18 billion at the time of the offering.

Listing in the United States, rather than at Piazza Affari, reflects the desire to operate in the main global market for technology companies, where giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet are already present, and where the availability of capital is significantly higher.

Founded in Milan thirteen years ago, Bending Spoons has built its growth following an approach reminiscent of private equity firms, but with a substantial difference: instead of buying companies to sell them after restructuring, it aims to retain them in the long term.

Over the years, the group has acquired more than fifty digital companies and products, including Evernote, WeTransfer, Vimeo, Meetup, Eventbrite, and more recently, AOL. The goal is to acquire established but struggling services or those with room for improvement, intervening through cost rationalization, development of new features, revision of business strategies, and updates to pricing models.

This strategy has often generated criticisms, particularly due to the significant staff reduction programs that have accompanied several acquisitions and the subscription price increases introduced on some services. However, the company claims that these interventions have allowed it to improve the economic sustainability of the platforms without significantly compromising user loyalty.

The figures published at the time of the listing show a significant improvement in profitability. In the first quarter of 2026, Bending Spoons reported $601 million in revenue and a net profit of $27.4 million, in sharp contrast to the loss of $112 million reported in the same period the previous year, when revenue was stagnant at $259 million.

Overall, in 2025 the company recorded revenues of $1.31 billion, virtually breaking even with a net loss of just $204,000, following the profits achieved in 2023 and 2024.

The business model also continues to be heavily based on subscriptions, which represent about 84% of the revenue. The remaining turnover mainly comes from advertising (12%) and other revenue sources. According to data released by the company, the ecosystem of managed applications reaches 500 million monthly active users, about 9 million of whom are paying.

While primarily operating in the subscription software sector, Bending Spoons has decisively focused on artificial intelligence. According to Matteo Danieli, co-founder and Chief Product Officer, AI has significantly accelerated the development of new features and the creation of value for users over the past eighteen months.

The company also states that the use of machine learning techniques has been part of its DNA since its inception. Before the creation of Bending Spoons, in fact, the founders had developed Evertale, an application that used machine learning algorithms to automatically create a personal diary, a project that did not achieve commercial success but contributed to defining the company's philosophy.

This data-driven focus is also reflected in the management of acquired products. Bending Spoons uses a proprietary analytics and experimentation platform to optimize pricing, features, and user experience, adopting a strongly data-driven approach.

The listing primarily represents a tool for raising new financial resources aimed at supporting further acquisitions. Danieli emphasized that the current market phase, characterized by declining valuations of numerous traditional SaaS companies also due to expectations generated by artificial intelligence, constitutes a favorable opportunity for further expanding the group's portfolio.