Vimeo suffered massive layoffs this past week, according to one Business Insider reports. Employees are posting on various social media sites that layoffs have affected most of the company, including the entire video team. Vimeo is a video-hosting platform, so it sounds bad.

The layoffs are the latest restructuring Bending spoonThe Milan-based tech company that acquired Vimeo for $1.38 billion in an all-cash deal that ended Late 2025. While Bending Spoon may be unknown to many, it has quietly become one of the tech industry’s top buyers, now owning Meetup, WeTransfer, Eventbrite and more.

So what exactly is a bending spoon? Despite its catchy name, the 12-year-old company has remained remarkably under the radar, usually only making headlines when it adds another recognizable brand to its portfolio — or when it restructures those companies through significant layoffs.

The company’s playbook became clear: acquire underperforming but popular technology brands, then transform them to serve millions of users more efficiently through controversial changes to beloved products and significant staff cuts. It followed this pattern with Evernote and WeTransfer and is now repeating it with Vimeo.

Although largely unknown to the public, Bending Spoons’ product line has served over a billion people with over 300 million monthly active users and 10 million paying subscribers. Here’s what you need to know about some of the internet’s most recognizable brand remodeling companies.

What is a bending spoon?

Although often described as a private equity firm, Bending Spoons describes itself more specifically as a company that acquires and transforms digital businesses. Growing from 400 to 500 employees (whom the company calls “spooners”), its main focus is on improving the products and services others make.

However, it didn’t start out that way – the founders of Bending Spoons took a stab at building their own apps and products before shifting their focus.

The lesser-known backstory is that Bending Spoons was born out of the remains of Copenhagen-based startup Evertail. Participated in Disrupt SF 2011’s Startup Alley and raised Seed fund for this Photo sharing appwink

Evertale failed not long after, and investors were able to exit, but its founders and some employees continued to work together, primarily on in-house apps. Soon, the team made its first acquisition, followed by several others, CEO and co-founder Luca Ferrari told the venture podcast 20VC. In a rare interview.

In 2020, Bending Spoons made an exception when it created and donated Immuni, Italy’s official COVID-19 contact-tracing app. But other than that, it mostly follows a formula: Bending Spoons identifies a popular product that thinks it can improve inside and out, and buys it from owners who have reached their limits.

After the acquisition, Bending Spoons is anything but a passive owner, making changes to the product’s user experience and features as well as the underlying technology; monetization strategies, including pricing; and team organization, including headcount.

While this focus on efficiency and revenue overlaps with private equity strategies, Bending Spoons claims a key difference: it “always held the target, and never sold the acquired business.” It’s building a live portfolio, not collecting Internet debris or presiding over a technological graveyard.

To be clear, Bending Spoons’ acquisition targets haven’t necessarily failed commercially so far—many still had a substantial user base and revenue. But they tend to become stagnant, neglected, or owners quit. Let’s summarize these key agreements and what happened next.

Which company has Bending Spoons acquired?

While Bending Spoons acquired several companies between 2014 and 2021, including AI-powered photo enhancer Remini, its most notable acquisitions occurred recently.

In 2022, it acquired Filmic, known for its popular video- and photo-editing apps, and Lay off entire staff In December 2023.

In a deal announced in 2022 and finalized in early 2023, Bending Spoons also acquired Evernote, the note-taking app that reached a $1 billion valuation before running into trouble. lay off Following the acquisitionas well as Discounts on Evernote’s free offer.

The first half of the following year, 2024, was particularly active, with Acquisition of MeetupApp builder The Mosaic GroupAnd Hopin’s StreamYard All happening within six months.

In July 2024, it went on to acquire the publishing platform Jesus and file transfer services Way transferwhere it is later cut staff And Changed his free planIntroduce strict limits. In December 2025, WeTransfer co-founder Nalden criticized Spoons’ decision to bend and said that he Building another file transfer service.

In November 2024, Bending Spoons announced that it would spend $233 million In an all-cash take-private deal to acquire video platform Brightcove.

Acquisitions continue to accelerate in 2025, including Route Planner Commute and management software manufacturers crop.

Bending Spoons has also announced its intentions Get Vimeo In a $1.38 billion all-cash deal, and soon, from Acquire AOL from Yahoo for an undisclosed amount. (Disclosure: AOL and Yahoo are both former owners of TechCrunch, with Yahoo retaining a small interest.)

At the time, Bending Spoons said the acquisitions of AOL and Vimeo were expected to close by the end of 2025, subject to standard closing conditions and regulatory approvals; including, in Vimeo’s case, approval by its stockholders, which they recently granted.

The Vimeo acquisition closed in the latter half of 2025, and was followed by massive layoffs at the company this month, affecting most employees, including the entire video team.

In December 2025, Bending Spoons announced that it would acquire another well-known brand: Eventbrite. Once again, it could be worth much less than Eventbrite – just $500 million, a far cry from the company $1.76 billion Evaluation when it went public in 2018.

However, there may be further obstacles. Eventbrite stockholders earlier this month filed a lawsuit in Delaware to upend the take-private deal over voting rights, and Eventbrite currently An attempted battle To fast-track this challenge.

How much is the bent spoon worth?

As of October 2025, Bending Spoons is one of Europe’s rarest technology decacorns (the company is valued at over $10 billion).

This comes on the heels of Bending Spoons’ latest funding round: T. $270 million from investors including Rowe Price and previous backers Bailey Gifford, Cox Enterprises, Durable Capital Partners and Fidelity, and a $440 million secondary share sale by existing shareholders.

The company was last raised at a $2.8 billion valuation in 2024, making its updated $11 billion valuation a significant step — also for its four co-founders, who have since joined the billionaire ranks.

According to Forbes estimates based on shareholder data published by the Italian Business Register, Ferrari’s stake in Bending Spoons is now worth $1.4 billion, with co-founders Matteo Danieli, Luca Querella and Francesco Paternello each holding shares worth $1.3 billion.

It is unclear whether any of the co-founders sold stock in secondary transactions. Bending Spoons declined to comment on the part of its co-founders.

Although long bootstrapped, Bending Spoons had previously raised equity financing several timesincluding In September 2022 And Early 2024. VIPs at its cap table include tennis and entertainment stars Andre Agassi and Bradley Cooper; tech industry bigwigs Eric Schmidt, Mike Krieger and Xavier Neal; and performers The Weeknd, The Chainsmokers and Maluma.

After announcing its new funding in October 2025, Bending Spoons said it will support future acquisitions and investments in its proprietary technology and AI capabilities. This comes in addition to $2.8 billion in debt financing when the company announced its intention to acquire AOL, debt that will finance the AOL deal and future acquisitions.

What next?

Bending Spoons said it intends to continue to make new acquisitions that expand its portfolio of consumer and enterprise digital products, and that it now has the funds to carry out more ambitious goals – confirmed by its decision to acquire Eventbrite.

AOL and Vimeo already carry more name recognition than previous targets, although AOL’s terms remain undisclosed. Property also has some reach. In announcing the AOL deal, Bending Spoons claimed that AOL is one of the top 10 most used email providers in the world, with 8 million daily active users and 30 million monthly active users. (Long before the AOL acquisition, there was also Bending Spoons the rumor keep an eye App maker Elysium And typeform(The Barcelona-based SaaS company is known for its forms creation tools.)

Perhaps to support the company’s continued efforts to acquire, it also has openings across a range of roles, with new recruits initially working from offices in London, Madrid and Warsaw or from the Milan headquarters before having the option to work remotely.

Indeed, despite warning candidates that bending spoons is a “demand environment”, the company says it has already received more than 600,000 job applications in 2025, a figure that will likely climb as its recent deals generate additional attention.

Candidates aside, Bending Spoon is also Interview Bank. According to reports, the company is in talks with several financial institutions Launch an IPO on the NYSE. In November, there was Ferrari told Reuters If it decides to go public, Bending Spoons will likely list in the U.S., where tech companies tend to garner high valuations.

This story was originally published in October 2025 and is periodically updated with new information.