Bending Spoons Buys Airtable for $1.28B, a Fraction of Its 2021 Peak

Summary

Italian software company Bending Spoons has agreed to buy Airtable for $1.28 billion in cash, marking its first acquisition since going public at an $18 billion valuation in July. Airtable was worth $11 billion at its 2021 peak and was trading at roughly $4 billion on secondary markets earlier this year, making this a significant down-round exit. The company still posts roughly $480 million in annual recurring revenue, growing 20% year over year, and serves more than 500,000 organizations, including 80% of the Fortune 100. Bending Spoons’ playbook is consistent across its portfolio (which includes Evernote, WeTransfer, EventBrite, and Vimeo): acquire at a discount, cut staff aggressively, streamline the product, and push toward profitability.

Why it matters

If you use Airtable for work or creative projects, brace for changes. Bending Spoons hollowed out Evernote’s team and product after its acquisition. The same pattern likely applies here, which means now is a good time to evaluate whether Airtable still meets your needs or if it’s worth considering alternatives.

HTD Says

Bending Spoons’ acquisition of Airtable is good news for Bending Spoons investors and probably not great news for Airtable users. Their track record with Evernote tells you exactly what to expect next. I was a huge Evernote fan back in the day, but I watched the prices go up, and the service go down. So I moved to Notion (without any regrets).

I was (and still am, for now) a huge fan of Airtable, and this news honestly surprised me. I didn’t realize that Airtable had been declining. Their service was great, the functionality truly helped my productivity, and I loved the interface. But I haven’t used it in quite a while.

The other services, like WeTransfer, Eventbrite, and Vimeo, all had their own hey days. And now it seems like this Italian tech company is getting them at a fire sale (if you can say that $1.28B is any type of a “sale”).

Source:

TechCrunch