Bending Spoons, the Milan-based company that acquires and revitalizes aging technology brands, made its stock market debut with a 40% surge above its IPO price. Shares closed at $40.50 on Wednesday, well above the $29 initial offering. The market capitalization reached $25.7 billion, more than double the last private valuation of $11 billion. The IPO raised $1.68 billion, marking a vote of confidence from investors despite the recent slump in SaaS stocks.
An aggressive acquisition and turnaround strategy
Unlike many technology companies that focus on internal innovation, Bending Spoons buys well-known but stagnating brands such as AOL, Eventbrite, Evernote, Meetup, and Vimeo. The method involves cost cutting, adding new features, and raising prices to restore profitability. Unlike private equity, the company has no plans to sell these assets. This philosophy has drawn attention at a time when generative AI threatens traditional software business models. As discussed in the article about NLP with BERT and GPT on Hugging Face, automation is reshaping the landscape, and Bending Spoons proves there is still room for companies that can reinvigorate mature software.
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Sharp financial improvement
According to SEC filings, the company has turned around its portfolio. In the first quarter, Bending Spoons reported revenue of $601 million and net income of $27.4 million, compared to a net loss of $112 million on $259 million in revenue for the same period last year. The majority of revenue comes from subscriptions, which accounted for 84% of the business last year. The company, whose name is inspired by a scene in "The Matrix," has demonstrated value creation even in a challenging market. For more details, see the Wikipedia page on Bending Spoons.
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Investor support and the future of the "venture zombie" strategy
Major outside shareholders before the IPO included Baillie Gifford, Renaissance Partners, Cox Enterprises, Durable Capital Partners, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price. The five co-founders Luca Ferrari, Francesco Patarnello, Matteo Danieli, Luca Querella, and Tomasz Greber all benefited from the value increase. Bending Spoons is not alone in this approach: companies like Constellation Software, Curious, Tiny, saas.group, Arising Ventures, and Calm Capital follow similar models. Bending Spoons' ability to transform stagnant firms into profit engines could redefine investment strategies in the software sector.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/01/bending-spoons-defies-saas-slump-surges-40-on-first-day-of-trading
