Bending Spoons just snapped up Eventbrite for $500 million - a stunning 70% discount from the event platform's $1.76 billion IPO valuation seven years ago. The deal marks another major acquisition for the Italian app company, which specializes in reviving stalled tech brands through aggressive cost-cutting and pricing strategies.
Bending Spoons just pulled off another high-profile rescue mission, agreeing to buy struggling event platform Eventbrite for roughly $500 million. The price tag represents a massive markdown from the company's glory days - when it debuted on public markets in 2018 at a hefty $1.76 billion valuation.
The deal fits perfectly into Bending Spoons' now-familiar pattern of swooping in to save tech companies with strong brands but stagnant growth. The Italian firm has already applied this formula to household names like Evernote, Meetup, Vimeo, and most recently AOL, turning them profitable through a mix of cost cuts, price hikes, and strategic feature additions.
Eventbrite has become the poster child for what industry insiders call 'venture zombies' - companies that raised substantial VC funding but never quite delivered the explosive growth investors expected. Co-founded in 2006 by power couple Julia and Kevin Hartz alongside Renaud Visage, the events marketplace raised approximately $330 million from marquee investors including Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management during its 12-year private run.
But the numbers tell a sobering story. Audited annual revenue has been flat at around $325 million for both fiscal years 2023 and 2024, with trailing twelve-month revenue sitting at $295 million. Bending Spoons is paying approximately 1.7 times that revenue multiple - a bargain basement price that reflects Eventbrite's stalled momentum.
Despite the low acquisition multiple, Eventbrite shareholders aren't complaining. They'll receive $4.50 in cash per share, representing an 81% premium over Friday's closing price of $2.48. The market had clearly lost faith in the company's ability to reignite growth on its own.
This acquisition comes hot on the heels of Bending Spoons raising a massive $270 million funding round in October that valued the company at $11 billion. That war chest has positioned the firm as one of the most aggressive players in what's becoming a crowded field of 'hold forever' investors.
