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Bending Spoons
Luca Ferrari's Bending Spoons reached a $2.55B valuation in 2024 by acquiring and re-engineering mobile apps like Evernote, Meetup, and WeTransfer.
Bending Spoons
Ferrari founded Bending Spoons in Milan in 2013 with a small team of engineers, bootstrapping the company for years before taking its first outside capital. The firm originally built its own apps, including the popular video editor Splice, but pivoted to a buy-and-build model that treats neglected mobile software like distressed real assets. Revenue is entirely organic — no advertising, no customer acquisition spend — relying instead on App Store optimization and algorithmic product improvements. The firm acquires mature mobile applications — often from bankrupt or under-resourced developers — that serve sticky user bases but suffer from technical debt. Post-acquisition, Bending Spoons replatforms the software onto its proprietary infrastructure, deploys a common UI framework, and systematically A/B tests monetization mechanics. Confirmed acquisitions include Evernote (per the firm, November 2022), the event-planning platform Meetup (per the firm, January 2024), and the file-sharing service WeTransfer (per the firm, July 2024). The geographic footprint spans the US and Europe, where the bulk of its app user bases and deal targets are concentrated. The company counts over 400 professionals, nearly all based in Milan, and does not operate additional offices. In early 2024, Bending Spoons closed a $155 million equity round from Durable Capital Partners and Baillie Gifford at a $2.55 billion valuation (per Bloomberg, February 2024). An employee share buyback program runs annually, allowing the firm to retain equity internally while providing liquidity to its staff without a public listing. There are no known adjacent philanthropic or family-office vehicles. Bending Spoons is structurally unusual: it is a privately held software acquirer whose returns are driven by operational intervention, not financial engineering. The firm has no fund structure, no external LP commitments, and no co-investor club — it raises equity directly on its own balance sheet. This architecture allows indefinite hold periods and reinvestment of operating cash flows without the pressure to exit positions on a traditional venture capital timeline.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2013
AUM
>$2.5B equity value (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Italy
City
Milan
Corporate office
Milan, Italy
Principals
Luca Ferrari
Co-founder & CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Bending Spoons?
Co-founder and CEO Luca Ferrari leads all acquisition decisions at Bending Spoons. The firm does not employ a traditional investment committee; Ferrari and the core engineering leadership evaluate targets based on their fit with the proprietary replatforming stack and their potential for post-acquisition margin expansion. No separate CIO or investment team operates alongside the executing product and engineering groups.
Is Bending Spoons a traditional venture capital or private equity fund?
No. Bending Spoons does not operate a fund structure or manage third-party capital. It raises equity directly on its balance sheet through primary rounds with institutional investors such as Durable Capital Partners and Baillie Gifford (per Bloomberg, February 2024). This gives the firm permanent capital and allows it to hold assets indefinitely without facing fund-life constraints or LP redemption pressure.
How does Bending Spoons generate returns after acquiring an app?
The firm targets mobile applications with durable retention but visible operational neglect. Post-acquisition, it rewrites underlying code, deploys a unified component library, and runs systematic A/B tests on pricing, feature-gating, and onboarding flows. The goal is to increase annual recurring revenue per user while reducing infrastructure and maintenance costs. In public statements, Ferrari has described 100% revenue growth within a year as a typical target for a newly integrated asset.
Does Bending Spoons participate in minority investments or co-invest alongside other firms?
Bending Spoons buys whole companies outright — it does not make minority investments, co-invest alongside other acquirers, or participate in syndicated rounds. Every transaction is a full acquisition where the firm takes operational control and immediately begins integrating the asset into its proprietary technical stack.
What assets has Bending Spoons acquired?
The firm’s most prominent acquisitions are the note-taking app Evernote (November 2022), the community-meeting platform Meetup (January 2024), and the file-transfer service WeTransfer (July 2024). The portfolio also includes the video editor Splice, the image editor Remini, and several productivity utilities. All acquisitions have been confirmed directly by the firm through its official communications.
How is Bending Spoons financed?
After bootstrapping for roughly seven years, Bending Spoons raised its first external capital and has since completed multiple equity rounds. Its most recent known primary raise was a $155 million round in early 2024 led by Durable Capital Partners and Baillie Gifford, which valued the company at $2.55 billion (per Bloomberg, February 2024). The firm has not disclosed any debt financing or credit facilities used for acquisitions.
Where is the underlying wealth or backing for Bending Spoons?
Bending Spoons is not a single-family office and does not manage a disclosed family fortune. Its equity value derives from the shares held by co-founders Luca Ferrari and other early team members alongside institutional backers. Ferrari started the company as a software engineer without disclosed family wealth, and there is no public record of an underlying family office or trust structure.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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