Bending Spoons buys struggling apps, trims staff, and rebuilds them from scratch. CEO Luca Ferrari noted that the rebuilding process is time-consuming.
IPO Details and the Business Model
The company sold 57.97 million shares at $29 each in its initial public offering (IPO - the first time a company sells shares to the public). Shares were marketed at $26 to $28, so the final price came in above that range. That's a big jump from the company's estimated valuation of $14.5 billion in 2025.
The bulk of the offering was reserved for large investors, with 85% of shares going to the ten largest purchasers. Existing investor Baillie Gifford sold some of its holdings in the deal. The IPO was led by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Allen & Co.
"The upside of what we do is we buy these companies and rebuild them from scratch almost," said CEO Luca Ferrari. "It's led to really high returns, as we disclosed in our prospectus, but at the same time, one disadvantage is that it takes a lot of time."
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Financials and User Growth
In the first three months of 2026, it reported $601 million in revenue, up from $259 million in the same period a year earlier. Net income for that quarter was $27.5 million - a sharp turnaround from a net loss of $112 million in the first quarter of 2025.
The company's user base has exploded.
Background on the Company's Acquisition Strategy
Founded in 2013 by Luca Ferrari and colleagues, Bending Spoons has built a track record of snapping up distressed software apps, such as the former internet giant AOL, the file-transfer service WeTransfer, the note-taking tool Evernote, the photo-enhancement app Remini, and the video platform Vimeo.
Since its founding, Bending Spoons has acquired several struggling apps, often purchasing them at low valuations and then overhauling their technology and business models. This approach has allowed the company to turn money-losing properties into profitable assets, though CEO Ferrari admits the turnaround process can be slow.
The company's strategy focuses on acquiring apps with large existing user bases but poor monetization, then reinvesting in product development and subscription models. For example, after buying Evernote in 2022, Bending Spoons cut costs and introduced new features, eventually tripling the app's revenue. Similarly, its acquisition of Remini helped the photo app grow from a small niche to a global hit with millions of daily active users.
What to Watch
CEO Luca Ferrari said the company can grow revenue organically without acquiring new users, given the large gap between free and paying users.
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