Milan-based app developer Bending Spoons, which makes Splice and Remini, raised $340M+ from Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPM, Ryan Reynolds, and more
Context & Ripple Effects
This 2022 round is the origin point of the arc the later coverage traces: the money from Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM, and Reynolds seeded the buy-and-revitalize playbook that Bending Spoons scaled with a $155M raise at a $2.6B valuation in 2024 and €500M+ in JPMorgan-led debt in 2025, funding deals that pulled in Evernote, WeTransfer, Brightcove, and AOL.
The Italian banks' early check matters because of where it ends: by 2026 the company is a ~$19B-valued Nasdaq IPO candidate owning Vimeo, with roughly $4.4B in debt on the balance sheet — a trajectory that started with domestic bank capital behind two consumer apps, Splice and Remini.
First-order effects
- Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPM take direct equity exposure to a consumer-app company rather than a loan book position, an unusual move for Italian lenders at the time.
- The $340M+ gives Bending Spoons the war chest to move beyond its Splice and Remini portfolio toward acquiring other software brands.
Second-order effects
- The capital underwrites the distressed-SaaS acquisition strategy later documented in the company's profile — deals like the $233M Brightcove take-private — turning Bending Spoons into a recurring buyer that sellers of tired consumer brands approach first.
- Each successive raise shifts the funding mix from bank equity to institutional and debt capital, widening the pool of investors with a stake in the roll-up.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, legacy consumer internet brands end up consolidated under one acquisition-driven operator rather than dispersed among their original owners — with the Nasdaq listing converting that consolidation into a public market vehicle carrying roughly $4.4B of leverage.
The trend: Consumer internet brands are consolidating under acquisition-driven operators, with bank and debt capital progressively replacing venture funding as the roll-up scales.