Bending Spoons’ IPO and Berkshire Hathaway Investment
Bending Spoons made its debut on the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, after pricing its initial public offering on June 30 at $29 a share and raising roughly $1.7 billion. At the time of the offering the Milan‑based firm was described as a little‑known holding company out of Italy that owned older internet names such as Bending Spoons, AOL, Vimeo, Eventbrite and Evernote.
Less than four months after the IPO, Berkshire Hathaway revealed a major stake in the company. The conglomerate, which Bending Spoons cites as a “longstanding inspiration” for its strategy, has invested over $900 million, including a $330 million disclosure announced on Wednesday. The news sent Bending Spoons’ shares up 41 %; although some of those gains were later trimmed, the firm’s market capitalisation settled around $30 billion.
Analysts at Mizuho noted that Berkshire’s decision to add to its position so soon after the IPO “provides another vote of confidence in the Bending Spoons model from one of the world’s most respected long‑term investors.”
Acquisition Spree and Portfolio Moves
From Holding Company to Enterprise Software Acquirer
Since its public launch, Bending Spoons has pursued an aggressive merger‑and‑acquisition agenda. In August 2026 the company agreed to buy workflow software provider Airtable for about $1.3 billion – a price roughly 90 % below Airtable’s peak valuation from late 2021. Bending Spoons said a “large portion of the pre‑acquisition team” would depart with substantial separation packages.
The same month the firm also announced it had reached a deal to acquire collaboration software vendor Miro for $1.36 billion. Miro had once been valued at $17.5 billion before the AI‑driven market downturn.
These transactions follow a string of earlier purchases: Evernote in 2022, Brightcove in 2024, and Vimeo, AOL and Eventbrite in 2025. Bending Spoons characterizes its approach as profit‑focused rather than exit‑oriented, likening it to the Warren Buffett model but with a hands‑on emphasis on technology, operations and personnel decisions.
Job Cuts and Integration Challenges
Integrating acquired businesses has meant workforce reductions. In addition to the Airtable layoffs, Bending Spoons previously trimmed teams at Evernote, Vimeo, WeTransfer and other portfolio companies. The firm says the cuts are part of unlocking value and improving efficiency in the businesses it acquires.
Price adjustments have accompanied some integrations. After acquiring Evernote in April 2023, Bending Spoons raised the annual personal subscription from $70 to $130, later introducing a $100 starter plan and a $250 “Evernote Advanced” tier versus the prior $170 professional offering.
Market Reaction and Financial Performance
Bending Spoons’ first earnings report as a public company, released in August 2026, showed revenue more than doubling year‑over‑year to over $700 million, with growth driven almost entirely by acquisitions. Net income rose 171 % to $177 million.
The company noted that roughly half of its revenue already comes from professional businesses, principally through Brightcove and Vimeo, which have enterprise components. CEO Luca Ferrari told CNBC that the focus on software reflects where value can be found after a broad sell‑off in the sector, adding that “most enterprise SaaS businesses were valued at irrationally high levels until recently.”
Industry Context: The SaaSpocalypse
Bending Spoons’ moves illustrate a wider trend in the technology industry often described as the “SaaSpocalypse.” As large language model‑powered agents from firms such as Anthropic and OpenAI advance toward trillion‑dollar valuations, many traditional software‑as‑a‑service providers are losing traction. Shares of companies like Intuit, HubSpot and Adobe have each fallen at least 30 % this year, and numerous private SaaS firms that once enjoyed venture‑capital favor now struggle to raise capital as public‑market appetite for IPOs wanes.
Investor Ethan Kurzweil of Chemistry VC summed up the sentiment: “You’re either like a hot thing or you’re nothing.” He acknowledged that solid SaaS products remain on the market but observed that many are no longer on the frontier of innovation.
