AI-generated analysis, not investment advice. The articles are written by AI, edited, and checked against company filings — but the judgements are opinions and the figures go stale. How this is made · Terms

CompetitorsThin moat

Bending Spoons (BSP) — moat facet

Bending Spoons competes hardest in an auction room, and for most of its products the prospectus names no rival and no market share at all.

Bending Spoons competes in three different arenas and the filing says so: for businesses to buy, for customers, and to hire and retain talented, driven, and collaborative individuals as Spooners1. The first of those is where the money is made.

What the prospectus names as competitionAOLGmail, Outlook, Apple News, Google News, Bing, Google SearchVimeoCloudflare Stream, IBM Video StreamingWeTransferGoogle Drive, SmashBusinesses with a named rival3 of the ten main businessesMarket shares statednone, for any productRival bidders namedfinancial sponsors and strategic acquirersBending Spoons Form 424B4, Business, competition
Three businesses with named rivals, and no share figures.

In the market for businesses, the rivals are named by category rather than by firm: in pursuing acquisitions, we compete with other bidders2, and these bidders have typically been financial sponsors, although strategic acquirers have also participated3. Whether Bending Spoons wins depends, in its own words, primarily on the price we offer and our reputation as a trustworthy bidder4, and the company told CNBC that it had not been outbid for a target in several years5.

In the market for customers the record is strikingly thin. The prospectus names competitors for exactly three of its businesses: AOL against email services (such as Gmail and Outlook)6, news portals (such as Apple News and Google News)7 and search engines (such as Bing and Google Search)8; Vimeo against video hosting, management, and streaming solutions (such as Cloudflare Stream and IBM Video Streaming)9; and WeTransfer against digital file storage and distribution tools (such as Google Drive and Smash)10. For Evernote, Remini, Eventbrite, Brightcove, komoot, Harvest, StreamYard, Airtable and Miro it names none, and it gives no market share for any product.

The competitive risk it does describe is generic and real: it competes with well-established companies with significantly greater financial, technical, marketing, sales, data, distribution, and other resources11, and technology platform operators may also launch, expand, bundle, or favor their own products12.

The talent contest is the one the company spends most effort on and discloses least about. It lists competition to hire and retain Spooners alongside competition for customers and for businesses13, and warns that increased public visibility could make it a more attractive target for competitors seeking to recruit or poach our team members14. Applications rose to about 800,000 in 202515, so the inbound side is not the problem; keeping 621 people16 who now hold publicly traded options is.

The oddest feature of this competitive map is how often the same two names appear on every side of it. Apple and Google are the distribution channels through their app stores, two of the five named payment processors, the suppliers of the cloud the products run on through AWS and Google Cloud, and the places Bending Spoons buys its own advertising through Google Ads17. They are also, in the filing's own competition section, the owners of the products AOL and WeTransfer compete with18. There is no negotiation available on any of those fronts.

The four pages below are four different relationships, not four rivals. The measure that covers all of them is organic revenue growth: 7% in 2024 and 13% in 202519, and 3% in the second quarter of 202620. Competition at the product level, if it is biting, shows up there and nowhere else, because nothing in this company is reported per business.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

No product shares disclosed; the company expects bidding competition to raise prices.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Organic revenue growth, full year
13% in 2025, from 7% in 2024

Product-level competition shows up only here, because nothing is reported per business.

Source: Bending Spoons Form 424B4 prospectus ↗
Dig deeper
DIG DEEPER 01
The Sellers: Who Lets These Businesses Go
Bending Spoons buys from owners who have run out of patience, which makes other people's disappointment the raw material of its growth.
DIG DEEPER 02
The Other Bidders
The private equity firms that used to buy these businesses paid too much and stopped, which is a large part of why a Milanese company now sets the…
DIG DEEPER 03
The Rivals the Filing Will Not Name
Bending Spoons publishes no market share for any product and names a competitor for only three of its businesses, so gross margin is the only…
DIG DEEPER 04
The Assistant That Answers Instead
The filing lists the businesses a general-purpose assistant cannot replace, and Evernote, Remini, Harvest, Airtable and Miro are not among them.
References
  1. ReportedBending Spoons competes in three different arenas and the filing says so: for businesses to buy, for customers, and to hire and retain talented, driven, and collaborative individuals as Spooners.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - Item 3.D risk factors and the notes on legal proceedings. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedIn the market for businesses, the rivals are named by category rather than by firm: in pursuing acquisitions, we compete with other bidders, and these bidders have typically been financial sponsors, although strategic acquirers have also participated.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the letter from the team and the Business section on the Playbook, return hurdles and acquisition criteria. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedIn the market for businesses, the rivals are named by category rather than by firm: in pursuing acquisitions, we compete with other bidders, and these bidders have typically been financial sponsors, although strategic acquirers have also participated.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the letter from the team and the Business section on the Playbook, return hurdles and acquisition criteria. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedWhether Bending Spoons wins depends, in its own words, primarily on the price we offer and our reputation as a trustworthy bidder, and the company told CNBC that it had not been outbid for a target in several years.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the letter from the team and the Business section on the Playbook, return hurdles and acquisition criteria. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedWhether Bending Spoons wins depends, in its own words, primarily on the price we offer and our reputation as a trustworthy bidder, and the company told CNBC that it had not been outbid for a target in several years.
    CNBC, Bending Spoons wants to revive software castoffs, and Berkshire is investing - the company's statement that it had not been outbid for a target in several years, the comparison with Thoma Bravo and Vista Equity Partners, Luca Ferrari on enterprise software valuations and on the share of revenue from professional businesses, the Evernote price history and Mizuho's and Nick Mehta's comments. — October 2026 · publ. 17 October 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedThe prospectus names competitors for exactly three of its businesses: AOL against email services (such as Gmail and Outlook), news portals (such as Apple News and Google News) and search engines (such as Bing and Google Search); Vimeo against video hosting, management, and streaming solutions (such as Cloudflare Stream and IBM Video Streaming); and WeTransfer against digital file storage and distribution tools (such as Google Drive and Smash).
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on competition. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedThe prospectus names competitors for exactly three of its businesses: AOL against email services (such as Gmail and Outlook), news portals (such as Apple News and Google News) and search engines (such as Bing and Google Search); Vimeo against video hosting, management, and streaming solutions (such as Cloudflare Stream and IBM Video Streaming); and WeTransfer against digital file storage and distribution tools (such as Google Drive and Smash).
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on competition. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedThe prospectus names competitors for exactly three of its businesses: AOL against email services (such as Gmail and Outlook), news portals (such as Apple News and Google News) and search engines (such as Bing and Google Search); Vimeo against video hosting, management, and streaming solutions (such as Cloudflare Stream and IBM Video Streaming); and WeTransfer against digital file storage and distribution tools (such as Google Drive and Smash).
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on competition. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedThe prospectus names competitors for exactly three of its businesses: AOL against email services (such as Gmail and Outlook), news portals (such as Apple News and Google News) and search engines (such as Bing and Google Search); Vimeo against video hosting, management, and streaming solutions (such as Cloudflare Stream and IBM Video Streaming); and WeTransfer against digital file storage and distribution tools (such as Google Drive and Smash).
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on competition. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedThe prospectus names competitors for exactly three of its businesses: AOL against email services (such as Gmail and Outlook), news portals (such as Apple News and Google News) and search engines (such as Bing and Google Search); Vimeo against video hosting, management, and streaming solutions (such as Cloudflare Stream and IBM Video Streaming); and WeTransfer against digital file storage and distribution tools (such as Google Drive and Smash).
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on competition. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  11. ReportedThe competitive risk it does describe is generic and real: it competes with well-established companies with significantly greater financial, technical, marketing, sales, data, distribution, and other resources, and technology platform operators may also launch, expand, bundle, or favor their own products.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  12. ReportedThe competitive risk it does describe is generic and real: it competes with well-established companies with significantly greater financial, technical, marketing, sales, data, distribution, and other resources, and technology platform operators may also launch, expand, bundle, or favor their own products.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  13. ReportedIt lists competition to hire and retain Spooners alongside competition for customers and for businesses, and warns that increased public visibility could make it a more attractive target for competitors seeking to recruit or poach our team members.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - Item 3.D risk factors and the notes on legal proceedings. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  14. ReportedIt lists competition to hire and retain Spooners alongside competition for customers and for businesses, and warns that increased public visibility could make it a more attractive target for competitors seeking to recruit or poach our team members.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - Item 3.D risk factors and the notes on legal proceedings. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  15. ReportedApplications rose to about 800,000 in 2025, so the inbound side is not the problem; keeping 621 people who now hold publicly traded options is.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: people, hiring, compensation and culture. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  16. ReportedApplications rose to about 800,000 in 2025, so the inbound side is not the problem; keeping 621 people who now hold publicly traded options is.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: people, hiring, compensation and culture. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  17. ReportedApple and Google are the distribution channels through their app stores, two of the five named payment processors, the suppliers of the cloud the products run on through AWS and Google Cloud, and the places Bending Spoons buys its own advertising through Google Ads.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on the Platform: proprietary technologies, proprietary data and artificial intelligence. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  18. ReportedThey are also, in the filing's own competition section, the owners of the products AOL and WeTransfer compete with.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the Business section on competition. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  19. ReportedThe measure that covers all of them is organic revenue growth: 7% in 2024 and 13% in 2025, and 3% in the second quarter of 2026.
    Bending Spoons S.p.A. Form 424B4, the final initial-public-offering prospectus dated 30 June 2026 - the master document, covering the business, the Playbook, the Platform, the audited financial statements for 2023-2025, the Q1 2026 interim, the acquisitions, customers, risk factors and legal proceedings - the audited consolidated financial statements, the Q1 2026 interim and the MD&A on results of operations and tax. — FY2023-Q1 2026 · publ. 1 July 2026 · source ↗
  20. ReportedThe measure that covers all of them is organic revenue growth: 7% in 2024 and 13% in 2025, and 3% in the second quarter of 2026.
    Bending Spoons second-quarter 2026 results release, Form 6-K exhibit 99.1 - organic revenue growth, non-GAAP measures, net debt and leverage, the business transformations and guidance for the third quarter and the full year. — Q2 2026 · publ. 13 August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated October 20, 2026