Bending Spoons to buy Airtable for $1.28B
Bending Spoons has agreed to acquire workplace database and spreadsheet startup Airtable for $1.28 billion in cash, marking the Italian software group's first acquisition since it went public last month. The deal fits Bending Spoons' established playbook of buying well-known tech brands at a discount to their previous private valuations, then cutting costs and streamlining operations to make them profitable, as it has previously done with Evernote, WeTransfer, Eventbrite and Vimeo.
Founded in 2013, Airtable had raised more than $1.4 billion and was valued at over $11 billion at its 2021 peak, before secondary-market trading earlier this year put it closer to $4 billion; accounting for its net cash position, Bending Spoons values the deal at roughly $2.25 billion. Airtable reported annual recurring revenue of around $480 million as of June 2026, up more than 20% year-on-year, and says it serves over 500,000 organisations, including 80% of the Fortune 100. The company has been expanding into AI with its "Superagent" platform, launched in January to let users deploy teams of AI agents for tasks.
- Bending Spoons buys Airtable for $1.28bn in cash
- Airtable's valuation has fallen sharply from its $11bn 2021 peak
- First acquisition since Bending Spoons' July stock market listing
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Airtable demonstrates authentic business strength with $480 million in annual recurring revenue, consistent 20% annual growth, and customers spanning the Fortune 100, validating genuine product-market fit. Bending Spoons has established a track record of successfully acquiring well-known software brands and maintaining them as profitable, competitive operations, as proved by its management of Evernote, WeTransfer, and Vimeo. A publicly listed, operationally disciplined acquirer provides greater financial stability and resources than the uncertain venture capital funding cycles facing private companies, enabling Airtable to pursue its artificial intelligence ambitions with less funding risk. The valuation correction from private-market peaks to this price represents ordinary market repricing toward sustainable fundamentals.
The case against
The acquisition exemplifies problematic consolidation in productivity software, where a company once valued at $11 billion now sells for $1.28 billion—an 88% decline suggesting unresolved execution or market challenges that acquisition cannot cure. Bending Spoons' operational model prioritises cost efficiency and profitability over innovation velocity, raising serious concerns that the product ambition, rapid iteration, and creative freedom that built Airtable's user base will be subordinated to margin expansion. Independence fosters the visionary product leadership and entrepreneurial culture essential for attracting talent and maintaining technological edge, whereas integration into a consolidating group typically prioritises operational efficiency over user needs and market leadership. Loss of Airtable as an independent competitor further concentrates the database and productivity software market.