Berkshire Hathway has invested over $900 million in Bending Spoons, including a $330 million stake disclosed on Wednesday, providing a significant endorsement for the Milan-based holding company's acquisition strategy. The investment comes less than four months after Bending Spoons debuted on the Nasdaq in July, a period during which the firm transformed from an obscure owner of legacy internet names into a primary buyer for software assets displaced by the artificial intelligence boom. The announcement initially drove Bending Spoons shares up 41 percent, though some gains were later lost, leaving the company with a market capitalization of approximately $30 billion.
Analysts at Mizuho noted that the decision by one of the world's most respected long-term investors to add to its position just months after the IPO serves as a vote of confidence in the Bending Spoons model. The firm's strategy distinguishes itself from traditional private equity buyouts by focusing on generating profits from acquired businesses rather than seeking eventual exits, mirroring the Warren Buffett approach but applied specifically to technology. Unlike private equity firms that previously dominated enterprise software acquisitions, Bending Spoons takes a hands-on role in software operations and personnel decisions.
The company's aggressive buying pace has been fueled by a sharp decline in valuations across the software sector, a trend attributed to the rise of large language models and new AI agents. With Anthropic and OpenAI approaching trillion-dollar valuations, businesses are shifting work to these AI tools, impacting software-as-a-service companies. Public shares of Intuit, HubSpot, and Adobe have all fallen at least 30 percent this year, while private SaaS firms struggle to secure capital. This environment has allowed Bending Spoons to acquire assets at significant discounts; in August, it agreed to buy Airtable for about $1.3 billion, nearly 90 percent below its late 2021 peak valuation, and last month acquired Miro for $1.36 billion despite its previous $17.5 billion valuation.
However, the consolidation strategy has included substantial workforce reductions. Bending Spoons announced on Monday that a large portion of Airtable's pre-acquisition team would leave with substantial separation packages. Similar layoffs were previously implemented at portfolio companies including Evernote, Vimeo, and WeTransfer. Ethan Kurzweil, founder and managing partner at Chemistry VC, described the current market as one where companies are either on the frontier of AI or irrelevant, noting that many pre-ChatGPT products are now considered legacy.
Bending Spoons was founded in 2013 by Luca Ferrari, Matteo Danieli, and Francesco Patarnello after their initial mobile app venture failed. The company raised approximately $1.7 billion in its June 30 IPO at $29 per share; the stock closed Friday at $47.07. In its first public earnings report in August, Bending Spoons reported revenue more than doubling year-over-year to over $700 million, with net income climbing 171 percent to $177 million. CEO Luca Ferrari stated that about half of the company's revenue already comes from professional businesses, and that the recent focus on enterprise software stems from finding value after a significant selloff rather than a strategic shift toward enterprise.
Customer experience has also shifted under new ownership. Following the 2022 acquisition of Evernote, Bending Spoons raised annual personal subscription prices from $70 to $130 in 2023 and later restructured plans to charge $100 for a starter tier and $250 for an advanced tier. Lloyd Walmsley, an analyst at Mizuho, observed that while price hikes occur, high switching costs often keep customers in place. Ferrari indicated that future growth will primarily come from additional acquisitions, leveraging profits from existing portfolio companies.