Bending Spoons submits a filing for a US initial public offering on Nasdaq.

      Bending Spoons does not create many applications; instead, it purchases them, rectifies their financial issues, and manages their operations. Now, it is seeking to have Wall Street invest in its enterprise.

      The Milan-based company, known for its ownership of Evernote, WeTransfer, and Vimeo, has submitted a Form F-1 for a US initial public offering to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It aims to list its common shares on Nasdaq with the ticker symbol “BSP,” potentially becoming one of the most anticipated European tech launches of the year.

      While the company has not determined a price, reports suggest it is targeting a valuation of approximately $20 billion, which is nearly double the $11.7 billion valuation from an equity raise just eight months prior.

      The filing illustrates why investors are keenly interested. Revenue increased from $387 million in 2023 to $671 million in 2024 and is projected to reach $1.31 billion in 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate of 84 percent. Chief Executive Luca Ferrari indicated that adjusted earnings are expected to roughly double this year to around $1.4 billion, with the portfolio now serving hundreds of millions of users and over nine million paying customers.

      What sets Bending Spoons apart is its growth strategy. Instead of pursuing the next major launch, it operates more like a private-equity firm equipped with an in-house engineering team, acquiring established yet underperforming digital products, cutting costs, and scaling their operations. Its acquisitions include Evernote, Meetup, Brightcove, Eventbrite, AOL, the route-planner Komoot, and, most recently, Vimeo for approximately $1.38 billion last November.

      This strategy is profitable but direct: significant layoffs typically follow acquisitions, as Vimeo’s employees have experienced.

      Choosing to list in New York instead of Europe sends a strong message. Despite discussions about creating a European equivalent to Nasdaq, many of the continent’s largest tech firms still gravitate toward US markets, attracted by more substantial capital pools and higher valuations, a point highlighted when Monzo considered New York versus London.

      Bending Spoons, one of Europe's most valuable privately held tech companies, is the latest to opt for Wall Street. This decision also signifies the notable ascent of Italy's tech sector, which has often been eclipsed by France and Germany and is now attracting attention from companies like Anthropic to Milan. Founded in 2013 and led by Ferrari, who will maintain control with two co-founders through a special class of shares, Bending Spoons has successfully transformed a contrarian idea—that the internet is filled with valuable products poorly managed—into a multibillion-dollar enterprise.

      However, it faces the common risk associated with roll-ups: growth that relies on acquiring increasingly larger targets and integrating them without disrupting their original value. A public listing would provide Bending Spoons with greater resources to continue its acquisition strategy and, for the first time, reveal to the world the operational efficiency of its model.