Bending Spoons: the $11 billion firm behind Vimeo’s layoffs

Milan-based Bending Spoons, led by CEO and co-founder Luca Ferrari, has finalized its acquisition of video-hosting platform Vimeo in an all-cash deal valued at $1.38 billion. Following the transaction, Bending Spoons initiated sweeping layoffs at Vimeo this month. The acquisition and subsequent restructuring highlight the scale of Bending Spoons, a tech conglomerate now valued at $11 billion. This valuation makes the company a decacorn, a term used to describe a company valued at more than $10 billion.

The company’s playbook involves acquiring underperforming digital brands and restructuring them. Unlike traditional private equity firms, Bending Spoons claims it “aims to hold forever, and has never sold an acquired business.” However, its integration process often involves controversial changes to products and workforce reductions. For example, following its July 2024 acquisition of Issuu and WeTransfer, Bending Spoons implemented staff cuts and product changes. More recently, in December 2025, Bending Spoons announced it would acquire Eventbrite in a take-private deal—an acquisition of a public company to make it private. That transaction has already run into legal hurdles, with Eventbrite stockholders filing a lawsuit in Delaware to challenge the deal.

Despite its restructuring tactics, Bending Spoons has maintained an internal footprint of 400 to 500 employees, while its portfolio serves 300 million monthly active users and 10 million paying customers. The company’s expansion is supported by its financial structure:

• An updated valuation of $11 billion, a step up from its previous $2.8 billion valuation in 2024.
• A recent funding round of $270 million from investors.
• A secondary share sale of $440 million by existing shareholders.
• An additional $2.8 billion in debt financing, which will fund its acquisition of AOL—which has 8 million daily active users and 30 million monthly active users—and future deals.

According to reports, Bending Spoons is considering an IPO on the NYSE. This financial backing supports its continued acquisition strategy; the firm received more than 600,000 job applications in 2025.

Why it matters

Bending Spoons has emerged as a prolific tech conglomerate that acquires and restructures underperforming brands, a strategy that has recently resulted in significant layoffs at Vimeo. The company’s rapid growth to an $11 billion valuation and its aggressive acquisition playbook make it a central, if little-known, force in the current tech landscape.