Berkshire Hathaway invested over $900 million in Bending Spoons this week, including a $330 million stake disclosed Wednesday. The Milan-based holding company has emerged as a consolidator of aging software companies abandoned by the artificial intelligence boom. Bending Spoons went public in June at $29 per share. The stock closed Friday at $47.07 after the Berkshire announcement sent it up 41% midweek, giving the company a market cap near $30 billion.
Bending Spoons owns AOL, Vimeo, Eventbrite, Evernote, Miro and Airtable. The company acquired Airtable in August for $1.3 billion, roughly 90% below its peak 2021 valuation. Bending Spoons announced Monday that "a large portion" of Airtable's pre-acquisition workforce will depart with "substantial separation packages." The firm has cut staff at Evernote, Vimeo, WeTransfer and other holdings.
The business model mirrors Warren Buffett's approach. Bending Spoons aims to generate profits from acquired companies rather than flip them for exit gains. The company focuses on technology and takes direct control of software, operations and personnel decisions. Analyst Lloyd Walmsley at Mizuho said Bending Spoons operates at "a level of depth and willingness to make substantial product changes" uncommon among traditional private equity acquirers.
The consolidation reflects broader industry upheaval. AI-powered agents from Anthropic and OpenAI are displacing software developers and legacy SaaS products. Intuit, HubSpot and Adobe shares are each down at least 30% this year. Ethan Kurzweil, founder of Chemistry VC, said many solid SaaS products exist with capable teams, "but they're not on the frontier anymore." The phenomenon has been called the "SaaSpocalypse."
Bending Spoons has drawn interest as an alternative buyer. Prior decade consolidators Thoma Bravo and Vista Equity Partners have slowed acquisitions after purchasing overpriced assets now troubled by AI disruption. Nick Mehta, former CEO of cloud software vendor Gainsight, said private equity firms "got their nose bloodied" and struggle to take acquisition risks. "Bending Spooned" has become Silicon Valley slang for companies acquired at steep discounts.
Customer impacts include price increases. After acquiring Evernote in 2022, Bending Spoons raised annual personal subscription pricing to $130 from $70 in April 2023. The company later restructured offerings to $100 for starter plans and $250 for "Evernote Advanced," versus the prior $170 pro tier.