The IPO You Probably Haven’t Heard About
They’re a quiet giant, and if you've used the internet for any length of time, you've almost certainly touched a product this company now owns. Their portfolio includes Evernote, WeTransfer, Vimeo, Eventbrite, Meetup, and even AOL. All of them are now owned by a single Italian company called Bending Spoons, which on July 1st went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker BSP. It was the largest listing by a European startup in years, but you’ve probably heard little to nothing about it.
Unlike the AI-focused companies that have dominated this year's IPO calendar, Bending Spoons makes nothing new. Its entire business is buying software you already use. That makes it one of the more unusual companies to hit the public markets recently, and it’s a fascinating business model that’s worth exploring.
What the company actually does
The simplest description is a technology company crossed with a private equity firm. Bending Spoons buys older, once-popular software products that have lost their way, companies with loyal users but stalling growth, and sets about making them more profitable.
The playbook is consistent. After an acquisition, the company typically cuts costs sharply, rebuilds the product around its own engineering and AI tools, and shifts users toward paid subscriptions, often raising prices along the way. CEO Luca Ferrari sums it up in three words: "Acquire. Improve. Transform."
There's one important difference from a traditional private equity firm. Private equity usually fixes up a company and then sells it, but Bending Spoons says it intends to hold what it buys indefinitely. Founded in 2013 on a modest seed investment, it has made more than 50 acquisitions and reached roughly $1.3 billion in revenue in 2025.
What the bulls see
There's a real case for why investors have been interested, and it starts with something unusual for a hyped tech IPO: the company actually makes money. That may sound like a low bar, but it isn't. Most of the splashy technology offerings of recent years have shared a common trait, which is that the companies weren't profitable. They arrived with fast-growing revenue, an exciting story, and a promise that profits would come later, and investors were asked to pay up on faith. That trade has soured often enough that the market has grown wary, and through the first half of 2026 several unprofitable software companies went public to a tepid reception, some pricing below their target range.
Bending Spoons is a different animal. In the first quarter of 2026, it reported a net profit of roughly $28 million on $601 million in revenue. The IPO was priced at $29, above its $26 to $28 target range and the stock popped about 40% on its first day, and has since settled into the low $30s, a level that suggests investors have landed on a price they're comfortable with rather than one built on first-day hype. Revenue is growing quickly, most of it now comes from recurring subscriptions, and the portfolio reaches over 500 million monthly active users with more than 9 million paying subscribers. Supporters see a disciplined operator wringing real earnings out of neglected software, at a time when real earnings have been in short supply among its newly public peers.
What the skeptics see
The same playbook that generates the profits also generates the controversy. The cost-cutting is aggressive: after acquiring WeTransfer, the company cut a large majority of its staff within weeks, with Evernote and Brightcove seeing similarly steep reductions. Price increases for services can be steep too and free tiers are often trimmed, which has generated a lot of user backlash.
Then there's the price of the stock. Bending Spoons went public at roughly 11 times annual sales, a premium to most established software companies. Being profitable is not the same as being cheap, and a multiple like that assumes quite a rosy picture going forward, leaving little room for error as it seeks to acquire more and more floundering software companies. BSP also carries sizable debt from its buying spree, and its founders retain voting control through a special class of shares, so ordinary shareholders will have little say in how it's run.
The bottom line
Bending Spoons is a genuinely interesting company, a profitable and fast-growing operator doing something most of its newly public peers aren't. That profitability is the heart of its appeal, and a real distinction in a year when many hyped debuts have asked investors to bet on earnings that don't yet exist. But it's also a company whose entire strategy rests on continuing to find deals, cut costs, and raise prices, a formula that has worked well so far but isn't guaranteed to work forever.
As with any newly public stock, the early trading says more about enthusiasm than long-term value, and there's usually no prize for rushing in during the first few weeks or months.
Disclosure
Convivia Financial LLC is a registered investment advisor. This article is for general informational purposes only and reflects the author's opinions as of the date of publication, which are subject to change without notice. Nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, or tax advice, nor is it a recommendation, offer, or solicitation to buy, sell, or hold any security, including Bending Spoons (BSP). All investing involves risk, including loss of principal; IPOs carry additional risks including limited public operating history, low float, lock-up expirations, and elevated volatility. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Information from third-party sources is believed reliable but has not been independently verified. As of the date of publication, the Firm and/or its associated persons do not hold positions in the securities discussed. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply any particular level of skill or training. For more information about the Firm, including fees and conflicts of interest, please refer to our Form ADV Part 2A available upon request.
