Bending Spoons said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy spreadsheet and database startup Airtable for $1.28 billion in cash. The transaction is the company's first acquisition since it went public in July.
Airtable was founded in 2013 and has raised more than $1.4 billion across multiple funding rounds. At its peak in 2021, the company was valued at over $11 billion; later, shares reportedly traded on secondary markets at about a $4 billion valuation. Bending Spoons stated that, taking Airtable’s current net cash-and-cash-equivalents balance into account, the company is being valued at roughly $2.25 billion.
In a statement, Luca Ferrari, founder of Bending Spoons, said: “Airtable is a pioneering brand reshaping how teams organize data and manage critical workflows. The value being delivered is reflected in annual recurring revenue growing over 20% YoY to approximately $480 million as of June 2026, and joining forces with Bending Spoons will accelerate innovation even further.”
In January, Airtable introduced a new product line under the Superagent name—an orchestration platform designed to let users spin up teams of AI agents to perform tasks. CEO Howie Liu has said that Airtable serves over 500,000 organizations, including 80% of the Fortune 100.
Bending Spoons went public in July at about an $18 billion valuation. The company typically acquires businesses trading at a significant discount to their prior private valuations, then reduces staff, streamlines product offerings, and aims to make the acquisitions profitable. Its past notable purchases include Evernote, WeTransfer, EventBrite, and Vimeo.
Why this matters
The deal highlights shifting valuations in the tech sector, where companies that once commanded high private-market prices may change hands at lower multiples. Nonetheless, Airtable’s sustained ARR growth and large enterprise customer base make it an attractive strategic acquisition for Bending Spoons as it expands its software portfolio and revenue streams.
