Bending Spoons IPO prices above range at $18.4 billion valuation

Bending Spoons, the Italian company that owns AOL, Vimeo, and Evernote, priced its Nasdaq IPO at $29 per share on Wednesday, above its marketed range of $26 to $28, valuing the company at roughly $18.4 billion.

A total of roughly 58 million shares changed hands between the company and selling shareholders, generating proceeds of $1.68 billion. Demand came from both returning and first-time investors in the deal, according to an anonymous source at one of the lead underwriting banks who spoke to Reuters.

Indicative pricing ahead of Wednesday's open put the shares at $33, which would place the company's market value at approximately $21 billion. The shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "BSP."

The company was founded in 2013 by chief executive officer Luca Ferrari and co-founders Matteo Danieli, Francesco Patarnello, and Luca Querella after a previous startup, a digital diary app called Evertale, failed. When Evertale wound down, it left behind $40,000, which the founders channeled into their next venture. All four are now billionaires with net worths exceeding $2 billion each, according to Bloomberg.

According to its IPO filing, the company has built its portfolio through upward of 50 deals and has compiled a watch list of more than 1,000 businesses it views as candidates for future purchases. Its strategy involves acquiring digital businesses, reducing costs, and deploying its engineering team to improve the products. Its portfolio includes AOL, which it acquired for $1.45 billion in January, along with Vimeo, Eventbrite, Evernote, StreamYard, WeTransfer, and Brightcove, among others.

Revenue grew from $387 million in 2023 to $1.31 billion in 2025, the company said. Bending Spoons reported net income of $161 million in 2023 and $89 million in 2024, before swinging to a net loss of roughly $200,000 in 2025.

How the stock performs will offer a read on whether software companies can attract buyers in a market where the sector has had little representation among new listings this year. The debut arrives on the heels of a record-setting stretch for U.S. new issues, with $130 billion raised in the first six months of 2026, a figure boosted significantly by SpaceX's blockbuster offering, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Once the offering closes, the four co-founders will retain exclusive ownership of the company's class A shares and command about 82.71% of its total voting power, according to the IPO filing.