Bending Spoons submits an application for a US IPO on Nasdaq.

      Bending Spoons does not create many applications; instead, it acquires them, improves their financial performance, and manages them. Now, it aims for Wall Street to invest in its operations.

      The Milan-based company, which is behind platforms like Evernote, WeTransfer, and Vimeo, has initiated the process for a US initial public offering by submitting a Form F-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It intends to list its ordinary shares on Nasdaq under the symbol "BSP," which is anticipated to be one of the year's most scrutinized European tech market entries.

      The company hasn't announced a price yet, but reports indicate that it aims for a valuation of roughly $20 billion, nearly double the $11.7 billion valuation from an equity raise just eight months prior.

      The filing highlights why there is investor interest. Revenue increased from $387 million in 2023 to $671 million in 2024, and is projected to reach $1.31 billion in 2025, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 84 percent. Chief Executive Luca Ferrari stated that adjusted earnings are expected to nearly double this year to about $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 with its own engineering staff, purchasing established but underperforming digital products, cutting costs, and scaling operations. Its acquisitions include Evernote, Meetup, Brightcove, Eventbrite, AOL, the route-planner Komoot, and, last November, Vimeo for approximately $1.38 billion.

      While this method is profitable, it is also quite blunt; significant layoffs typically follow acquisitions, as seen by Vimeo's employees.

      Choosing to list in New York rather than Europe itself conveys a message. Despite aspirations to develop a pan-European alternative to Nasdaq, the continent's largest tech firms are still drawn to US markets for their greater capital availability and higher valuations, a tension highlighted when Monzo compared New York to London. Bending Spoons, regarded as one of Europe's most valuable privately owned tech companies, is the latest to opt for Wall Street.

      This decision also marks a remarkable growth for Italy's tech industry, which has historically been eclipsed by France and Germany, yet is now attracting attention from notable companies like Anthropic to those based in Milan. Established in 2013 and led by Ferrari, who will maintain control alongside two co-founders through a special class of shares, Bending Spoons has translated its contrarian belief that many internet products are well-designed but poorly managed into a multibillion-dollar enterprise.

      The risk it faces is common for roll-up businesses: growth that relies on locating ever-larger targets and integrating them successfully without compromising the qualities that made them desirable acquisitions.

      A public listing would provide Bending Spoons with increased resources to continue its acquisition strategy, and for the first time, it would allow the world to see precisely how well the operation functions.