What is Bending Spoons? Everything to know about AOL’s acquirer

Bending Spoons’ four co-founders joined the billionaire ranks this week.

Partnership with CEO Luca Ferrari A technology organization based in Milan Now is said to be worth $1.4 billion, while co-founders Matteo Danieli, Luca Querella and Francesco Paternello each have shares worth $1.3 billion, according to Forbes estimates based on shareholder data published by the Italian Business Register.

The valuation comes from Bending Spoons’ latest funding round: $270 million from investors including T. Rowe Price and previous backers Bailli Gifford, Cox Enterprises, Durable Capital Partners, and Fidelity, and a $440 million secondary share sale by existing shareholders. It is unclear whether any of the co-founders sold stock in secondary transactions. Bending Spoons declined to comment on the part of its co-founders.

Despite its catchy name, bending spoons remain remarkably under the radar. The 12-year-old outfit usually only makes headlines when it adds another recognizable brand to its growing portfolio — most recently this past week, When it agreed to acquire AOL. for an undisclosed amount.

But Bending Spoon is not a traditional private equity firm or a pure financial investment vehicle. Its focus is to acquire underperforming but popular tech brands, then transform them to serve millions of users more efficiently.

Companies make news when they restructure these acquired companies, often Significant retrenchmentor makes Controversial change For favorite products — or both in the case of Evernote and WeTransfer.

Still, Bending Spoons itself is largely unknown, although its catalog of products has served more than a billion people, with more than 300 million monthly active users and 10 million paying subscribers. Here’s what you need to know about some of the internet’s most recognizable brand remodeling companies.

What is a bending spoon?

Bending Spoons describes itself as a company that acquires and transforms digital businesses. After growing to a core number of 400 to 500 “spooners,” its main focus is to improve on the products and services others have created.

However, it didn’t start out that way – Bending Spoons’ founders took a stab at creating their own apps and products before eventually shifting their focus.

The lesser-known backstory is that Bending Spoons was born out of the remains of Copenhagen-based startup Evertail. Participated in Disrupt SF 2011’s Startup Alley and raised Seed fund for this Photo sharing appwink

Evertale failed not long after, and the investors pulled out, but its founders and a few employees continued to work together, primarily on in-house apps. Soon, the team made its first acquisition, followed by several others, CEO and co-founder Luca Ferrari told the 20VC podcast. In a rare interview.

In 2020, Bending Spoons made an exception when it created and donated Italy’s official COVID-19 contact tracing app, Immuni. But other than that, it mostly follows a formula: Bending Spoons identifies a popular product that thinks it can improve inside and out, and buys it from owners who have reached their limits.

After the acquisition, Bending Spoons is anything but a passive owner, making changes in the product’s user experience and features but in the underlying technology and, especially for outsiders, in monetization — including price — and team organization — including headcount.

While this focus on efficiency and revenue overlaps with private equity strategies, Bending Spoons claims a key difference: it “always held the target, and never sold the acquired business.” It’s building a live portfolio, not collecting Internet debris or presiding over a technological graveyard.

To be clear, Bending Spoons’ acquisition targets haven’t necessarily failed commercially so far—many still had a substantial user base and revenue. But they tend to become stagnant, neglected, or owners quit. Let’s summarize these key deals and what happened after them.

Which company has Bending Spoons acquired?

While Bending Spoons has acquired several companies between 2014 and 2021, including AI photo enhancer Remini, its most notable acquisitions have occurred more recently.

In 2022, it acquired Filmic, known for its popular video and photo editing apps, and Lay off entire staff In December 2023.

In a deal announced in 2022 and finalized in early 2023, Bending Spoons also acquired Evernote, the note-taking app that reached a $1 billion valuation before running into trouble. lay off Following the acquisitionas well as Discounts on Evernote’s free offer.

The first half of the following year, 2024, was particularly active, with Acquisition of MeetupApp builder The Mosaic GroupAnd Hopin’s StreamYard In the first half of the year

In July 2024, it went on to acquire the publishing platform issue and file transfer services Way transferwhere it is later cut staff And Changed his free planIntroduce strict limits. Later in the year, Bending Spoons announced that it would spend $233 million In an all-cash take-private deal to acquire video platform Brightcove.

Acquisitions continue to accelerate in 2025, including External route planner Commute and management software manufacturers crop.

Bending Spoons has also announced its intentions Get Vimeo in a $1.38 billion cash deal, and even more recently, to acquire AOL from Yahoo. (Disclosure: AOL and Yahoo are both former owners of TechCrunch, with Yahoo retaining a small interest.)

According to Bending Spoons, the acquisitions of AOL and Vimeo are expected to close by the end of the year, subject to standard closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including, in the case of Vimeo, the approval of its stockholders.

How much is the bent spoon worth?

As of late October 2025, Bending Spoons is one of Europe’s rarest technology decacorns (the company is worth more than $10 billion). The startup last raised a $2.8 billion valuation in 2024, making its latest round a significant move.

Although long bootstrapped, Bending Spoons had previously raised equity financing several timesincluding In September 2022 And Early 2024. VIPs at its cap table include tennis and entertainment stars Andre Agassi and Bradley Cooper; tech industry bigwigs Eric Schmidt, Mike Krieger and Xavier Neal; and performers The Weeknd, The Chainsmokers and Maluma.

According to Bending Spoons, its new funding will support future acquisitions and investments in its proprietary technology and AI capabilities. This comes alongside $2.8 billion in debt financing when the company announced its intention to acquire AOL, debt that will finance AOL deals and future acquisitions.

What next?

Bending Spoons said it intends to continue making new acquisitions that expand its portfolio of consumer and enterprise digital products, and that it now has the funding to pursue more ambitious goals.

AOL and Vimeo already carry much more name recognition than previous targets, even if the terms of the deal remain undisclosed. Property also has some reach. In announcing the AOL deal, Bending Spoons claimed that AOL is one of the top 10 most used email providers in the world with 8 million daily active users and 30 million monthly active users. (Long before the AOL acquisition, there was also Bending Spoons the rumor keep an eye App maker Elysium And typeform(The Barcelona-based SaaS company is known for its forms creation tools.)

Perhaps to support the company’s continued efforts to acquire, it also has openings across a range of roles, with new recruits initially working from offices in London, Madrid and Warsaw or from the Milan headquarters before having the option to work remotely.

Indeed, despite warning candidates that bending spoons is a “demand environment”, the company says it has already received more than 600,000 job applications in 2025, a figure that will likely climb as its recent deals generate additional attention.