Bending Spoons: Tech’s New Home for Castoff Software Gets $900M Vote from Berkshire

Italy's Bending Spoons, which went public less than four months ago, has rapidly become a key player in tech M&A with a distinctive approach. This week, the Milan-based holding company received an additional $330 million investment from Berkshire Hathaway, bringing Berkshire's total investment in the company to over $900 million, according to CNBC. This major endorsement has placed Bending Spoons and its acquisition-focused strategy in the spotlight of the U.S. tech sector.

Berkshire’s Investment and Bending Spoons’ Market Surge

Bending Spoons' strategy of acquiring once high-flying but now out-of-favor software properties at steep discounts drew attention following Berkshire's latest investment. Mizuho analysts described Berkshire's move as “another vote of confidence in the Bending Spoons model from one of the world's most respected long-term investors.” After the announcement on Wednesday, Bending Spoons’ shares surged up to 41% but later gave up some gains, ending with a market capitalization of about $30 billion by week’s end.

Bending Spoons has announced major acquisitions in the last few years, including the August purchase of workflow platform Airtable for about $1.3 billion, almost 90% below Airtable’s peak valuation from late 2021. In September, Bending Spoons agreed to acquire Miro, a collaboration software provider once valued at $17.5 billion, for just $1.36 billion. Other major deals include the acquisitions of AOL, Vimeo, Eventbrite, Evernote, Brightcove, and WeTransfer. The company raised about $1.7 billion at its IPO on June 30, debuting at $29 per share on Nasdaq and closing the most recent Friday at $47.07, according to CNBC.

A New Model for Legacy Software

Bending Spoons' buying spree comes as the software market rapidly shifts due to the AI boom. While firms like Anthropic and OpenAI draw investor attention and command record valuations, numerous software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies have seen their relevance and valuations decline. CNBC notes that shares of Intuit, HubSpot, and Adobe are each down at least 30% this year, and many private SaaS companies struggle to find capital, with public markets largely shunning IPOs.

Where major private equity firms previously bought undervalued SaaS firms and sought quick turnarounds, Bending Spoons pursues a different playbook: holding and trying to profit from the businesses rather than planning for fast exits. Unlike private equity’s buy-fix-sell approach, Bending Spoons says it has not been outbid for a target in “several years.”

Operational changes post-acquisition have been substantial. Layoffs have followed major deals: after the Airtable buy, Bending Spoons announced that a “large portion of the pre-acquisition team” was leaving with substantial severance. Similar staff cuts occurred at Evernote, Vimeo, and WeTransfer. For customers, the changes have extended to steep price increases. With Evernote, for example, the company raised the annual personal subscription from $70 to $130 post-acquisition, later restructuring plans to charge $100 for the starter plan and $250 for Evernote Advanced, compared to $170 for the previous pro plan.

Signals, Risks, and Measuring Success

Financially, Bending Spoons reported that in its first post-IPO earnings, revenue more than doubled from a year earlier to over $700 million, and net income rose 171% to $177 million, results delivered before the Airtable and Miro deals closed. CEO Luca Ferrari told CNBC that about half of current revenue comes from professional business users, driven largely through Brightcove and Vimeo, with the focus on software stemming from valuation opportunities rather than a strict sector strategy.

The sustainability of Bending Spoons’ model remains to be tested. Products must keep enough customer appeal to justify price hikes and avoid churn, even as AI-driven competition intensifies. The company uses profits from existing holdings to fund future deals, with “the overwhelming majority” of growth attributed to acquisitions rather than organic expansion.

Analysts and investors will closely watch whether Bending Spoons can maintain and grow profitability, demonstrate organic revenue growth compared to further acquisition-driven spikes, and sustain margins after layoffs and restructuring. Customer retention after aggressive price adjustments will be another metric to follow. The company’s future, alongside its unique position as a consolidator for legacy software, will serve as a gauge for the broader fate of non-AI software platforms in a rapidly evolving market dominated by generative AI.