Bending Spoons IPO: $18B valuation, stock surges 40%
Original: After $18B IPO, Bending Spoons founder says success comes from minimizing luck
Why This Matters
Bending Spoons' IPO signals growing investor appetite for AI-driven acquisition strategies targeting legacy internet brands.
Italian tech company Bending Spoons debuted on Nasdaq on July 1, 2026, opening at an $18B+ valuation with shares rising 40% by close. The Milan-based firm acquires distressed internet brands — including Vimeo, Eventbrite, and WeTransfer — and rebuilds them using AI and data-driven operations.
Bending Spoons, the 13-year-old Milan-headquartered company known for acquiring struggling internet brands, went public on the Nasdaq on July 1, 2026, with an opening valuation exceeding $18 billion. Shares climbed 40% by the end of its first trading day. The company's portfolio includes Meetup, Eventbrite, Vimeo, WeTransfer, AOL, and Evernote, among others. Unlike traditional private equity, Bending Spoons does not pursue a flip-and-sell strategy. Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Matteo Danieli described the firm's goal as taking 'beloved brands and making them much better.' The company's F-1 filing includes a section titled 'AI before it was cool,' referencing its roots in machine learning prior to mainstream AI adoption. Danieli credited the team's earlier failed startup, Evertale — an AI-powered life diary app — with shaping a core philosophy: minimizing luck in business outcomes. 'Luck plays a big role in finding product-market fit,' the F-1 states, but 'luck is irrelevant when pursuing operational excellence.' This philosophy drives decisions including pricing, experimentation, and feature releases. The company has faced scrutiny over aggressive post-acquisition layoffs and price hikes, but Danieli said customer retention has remained 'remarkably stable.' Revenue growth has accelerated notably over the past 18 months, driven by AI-enabled product development.