Twelve-year-old Milan-based technology conglomerate Curved Spoon has quietly become one of the most productive buyers of the tech industry, now has Meetup, WeTransfer and many others, but remains largely unknown to the general public.
So what is a Bending Spoon? Despite the catchy name, the company remains under the radar, and usually makes headlines only when it adds another recognizable brand to its portfolio – the latest being Eventbrite, the latest. agreed to buy for $ 500 million Last December.
But Bending Spoons is not a traditional private equity firm or pure financial investment vehicle. Their focus is to acquire an underperforming but popular tech brand, then transform it to serve millions of users more efficiently.
Companies tend to make news when they restructure the companies they buy, often through Significant layoffsor makes controversial change for the products you love – as we do in Evernote and WeTransfer.
However, Bending Spoons remains largely unknown, despite its product listings serving more than a billion people, with more than 300 million monthly active users and 10 million paying customers. Here’s what you need to know about the company that reinvents some of the internet’s most recognizable brands.
What is a Bending Spoon?
Bending Spoons describes itself as a company that acquires and transforms digital businesses. After growing to the number of 400 to 500 employees (the company called “Spooners”), its main focus was to make improvements to products and services that other people made.
However, it didn’t start that way – Bending Spoons’ founder took a stab at building his own app and product before finally shifting his focus.
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The little-known background is that Bending Spoons was born out of the remnants of Evertale, a Copenhagen-based startup that participated in Disrupt SF 2011’s Startup Alley and rose seed funding for its photo sharing appGlancing.
Evertale failed soon after, and the investors were able to exit, but the founders and some employees continued to work together, initially on a home-based application. Soon, the team made its first acquisition, followed by many others, CEO and co-founder Luca Ferrari told the venture podcast 20VC in a rare interview.
In 2020, Bending Spoons made an exception when they created and donated Immuni, Italy’s official COVID-19 contact tracing app. But other than that, it has usually been honing the formula: Bending Spoons recognize popular products that think they can improve inside and out, and buy from owners who have reached the limit.
After the acquisition, Bending Spoons is a passive owner, making changes to the user experience and product features, as well as the underlying technology; monetization strategy, including pricing; and team organization, including headcount.
While the focus on efficiency and revenue overlaps with the private equity strategy, Bending Spoons states the main difference: “The goal is to continue, and never to sell the business it buys.” It creates a direct portfolio, not collecting internet relics or leading a technological graveyard.
To be clear, Bending Spoons’ acquisition targets so far haven’t necessarily failed businesses – many of them still have a large user base and revenue. But they tend to be stagnant, neglected, or have owners who want out. Let’s recap this key offer, and what happened after that.
What company has Bending Spoons bought?
While Bending Spoons acquired several companies between 2014 and 2021, including AI-powered photography Remini, the most notable acquisition occurred more recently.
In 2022, it acquired Filmic, known for its popular video and photo editing applications, and fired all the staff in December 2023.
In a deal that was also announced in 2022 and finalized in early 2023, Bending Spoons also acquired Evernote, a note-taking app that was reportedly valued at $1 billion before it ran into trouble. Dismissal following the acquisitionalso cut to Evernote’s free offering.
The first half of next year, 2024, is particularly active, with acquisition of Meetupapp maker Mosaic groupand Hopin’s StreamYard it all happened within six months.
In July 2024, continue to acquire publishing platforms The issue and file transfer services WeTransferwhere later cut staff and made changes to its free planintroduce stricter restrictions. In December 2025, WeTransfer founder Nalden criticized Bending Spoons’ decision and said that he build another file transfer service.
In November 2024, Bending Spoons announced that they would be disbanding $233 million in an all-cash take-private deal to acquire video platform Brightcove.
The acquisition continues in 2025, with acquisitions included Komoot route planner and create management software Harvest.
The curved spoon also announces its intentions own Vimeo in a $1.38 billion all-cash deal, and soon after, to get AOL from Yahoo for an unknown amount. (Disclosure: Both AOL and Yahoo are former owners of TechCrunch, in which Yahoo has a small interest.)
At the time, Bending Spoons said the acquisition of AOL and Vimeo was expected to close by the end of 2025, subject to standard closing conditions and regulatory approvals; including, in Vimeo’s case, shareholder approval, which was recently granted.
Layoffs also followed completion of the Vimeo acquisition. That information confirmed to Business Insider by Bending Spoons, he declined to say how many people will lose their jobs.
In December 2025, Bending Spoons announced that it will acquire another well-known brand: Eventbrite. Once again, it may pay less than what Eventbrite is worth – only $500 million, far from the company. $1.76 billion price when it goes public in 2018.
However, there may be other obstacles. Earlier this month, Eventbrite shareholders filed a lawsuit in Delaware to upend the take-personal deal through voting rights, and Eventbrite now struggling hard to fast-track this challenge.
How Much Do Bending Spoons Cost?
As of October 2025, Bending Spoons has become one of Europe’s rare tech decacorns (a company worth more than $10 billion).
This comes on the heels of the latest funding round Bending Spoons: $ 270 million from investors, including T. Rowe Price and previous backers Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, durable Capital Partners, and Fidelity, plus $ 440 million sale of secondary shares by existing shareholders.
The company eventually raised its valuation to $2.8 billion by 2024, making its updated $11 billion valuation a significant step — also for its four founders, who joined the ranks of billionaires as a result.
Ferrari’s stake in Bending Spoons is now reportedly worth $1.4 billion, while founders Matteo Danieli, Luca Querella, and Francesco Patarnello each hold $1.3 billion, according to Forbes estimates based on shareholder data published by the Italian Business Register.
It is not clear whether any of the founders sold shares in the secondary transaction. Bending Spoons declined to comment on its founder’s stake.
Although long bootstrapped, Bending Spoons previously raised venture financing many timesincluded in September 2022 and early 2024. It also has VIPs at the closing table, including tennis and entertainment stars Andre Agassi and Bradley Cooper; tech industry bigwigs Eric Schmidt, Mike Krieger, and Xavier Niel; and performers The Weeknd, The Chainsmokers, and Maluma.
After announcing new funding in October 2025, Bending Spoons said it will support future acquisitions and investments in proprietary technology and AI capabilities. This is in addition to the $2.8 billion in debt financing that the company disclosed when it announced its intention to acquire AOL, debt that will finance AOL deals and future acquisitions.
What’s next?
Bending Spoons said it plans to continue with recent acquisitions that expand its portfolio of consumer and enterprise digital products, and now has the funding to achieve more important targets ahead – as confirmed by its decision to acquire Eventbrite.
AOL and Vimeo have done more name recognition than their previous targets, although AOL’s term remains undisclosed. The property also has some range. In announcing the AOL deal, Bending Spoons claimed that AOL remains one of the 10 most used email providers in the world, with 8 million daily active users and 30 million monthly active users. (Not long before AOL acquired Bending Spoons, too it is reported to see maker of the Elysium app and Typeforma Barcelona-based SaaS company known for its form building tools.)
It is possible to support the continuous efforts to acquire the company, as well as having openings in various roles, with new employees initially working from the Milan headquarters before having the option of working from offices in London, Madrid, and Warsaw, or remotely.
In fact, despite the warning of candidates that Bending Spoons is a “demanding environment,” the company says it has received more than 600,000 job applications by 2025, a figure that may increase as the new offer generates additional attention.
Candidates aside, Bending Spoons too bank interview. According to reports, the company is in talks with several financial entities to start an IPO on the NYSE. In November, Ferrari had told Reuters that should go public, Bending Spoons will probably list in the US, where technology companies tend to get higher valuations.
This story was originally published in October 2025 and is updated regularly with new information.