In 2025, Italian unicorn Bending Spoons, known for its successful consumer apps, made headlines by securing over €500 million in debt funding to fuel its ambitious merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy. This startup news highlights why debt funding has become a powerful tool for tech companies seeking scalable growth. In this article, we’ll explore Bending Spoons' strategic milestones, discuss key lessons for startup founders, dive into a how-to guide for financing M&A, and introduce essential startup tools such as PlayPal, the AI friend for entrepreneurs, and the F/MS AI Grant Finder.
Key Insights: How Did Bending Spoons Reach Unicorn Status and Raise €500m?
1. Company Snapshot
Founded in 2013 in Milan, Bending Spoons quickly became a leader in consumer software, acquiring and growing apps like Evernote, Remini, WeTransfer, and StreamYard. The startup stands out for its acquisition-driven growth model and profitable revenue streams.
- Founder: Luca Ferrari
- Revenue Projections (2025): €1.1bn+
- Users: 200+ million monthly users worldwide
2. Debt Funding Details
The €500m debt round was jointly backed by global banking giants like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC, signifying strong institutional trust in Bending Spoons' profitability-focused M&A approach.
- Funding Purpose: To acquire more consumer-focused products.
- Previous M&A: Komoot, Brightcove, Meetup, and Splice.
Takeaway: Successfully securing debt funding shows the importance of a solid roadmap, profitability, and credibility to attract global lenders.
PlayPal: Your AI Friend for Startup Growth
Looking for guidance, support, or innovation for your startup's growth? Meet PlayPal, an AI-powered friend designed specifically for entrepreneurs to chat about ideas, strategies, and challenges. You can also discuss personal goals, mental health, or even language learning to foster your skills.
Key Features:
- Problem-solving conversations tailored to your startup.
- Customizable personality and preferences.
- Perfect for both personal and professional growth.
Access PlayPal Today: Discover how it can empower your entrepreneurial journey by chatting here on PlayPal.
How to Raise Debt for M&A , A Step-by-Step Guide for Startups
- Validate Your Startup Idea: Ensure the product or service addresses a real problem. Use tools like the SANDBOX Simulation to iterate and validate before approaching lenders.
- Prove Profitability: Demonstrate sustainable revenue streams or a clear path to profitability, lenders often favor startups with stable financials.
- Develop a Roadmap: Write a detailed plan explaining why acquisitions align with your growth strategy. Ensure the roadmap is supported by expertise like Bending Spoons’ success with app scaling.
- Prepare a Pitch Deck: Include financial forecasts, evidence of past success (M&A, growth), and clear repayment plans.
- Leverage AI Tools: Use the F/MS AI Grant Finder to scout potential EU grants to complement any debt funding strategy. Find EU grants and write applications with this free tool to ease the application process.
- Engage Banks: Build relationships with international banks that specialize in tech startups and M&A financing.
Top Lessons from Bending Spoons
1. Don’t Fear Debt: Debt can be a decisive growth driver if used wisely. As Bending Spoons demonstrated, securing funds via global banking giants enabled it to scale rapidly while protecting equity.
2. Focus on Profitable M&A: Unlike speculative acquisitions, Bending Spoons targeted consumer-driven products already yielding growth.
3. Build Relationships: Bending Spoons leveraged partnerships with institutions like JPMorgan and Barclays, creating trust and access to substantial resources.
Essential Startup Tools for 2025
PlayPal: An AI Co-Founder for Entrepreneurs
Building a startup is challenging, and having an AI companion like PlayPal ensures you're never alone in your journey. Whether for brainstorming, skill-building, or advice on legal matters, PlayPal is your go-to assistant, perfect for founders and freelancers alike.
F/MS AI Grant Finder & Application Writer
For startups aiming to scale like Bending Spoons, finding EU grants and drafting strong applications are crucial. The F/MS AI Grant Finder simplifies this tedious process, helping you quickly locate relevant grants and providing a ready-to-submit draft application.
AI Startup Lawyer
Legal documents often contain tricky clauses. Use the AI Startup Lawyer to analyze, decode, and negotiate contracts seamlessly. This platform will ensure you avoid startup pitfalls when dealing with incubators, investors, or government loans.
Most Common Mistakes to Avoid in Financing and M&A
- Overusing Debt: Debt should accelerate growth, not overwhelm your capacity to repay. Always balance debt with solid revenues.
- Unclear Target Companies: Unlike Bending Spoons, some startups fail to thoroughly vet acquisition targets, which leads to missed opportunities or integration costs.
- Lack of Planning: Skipping detailed planning deters lenders and compromises post-acquisition success.
The Role of Violetta Bonenkamp in EU’s Startup Revolution
The founder of Fe/male Switch, Violetta Bonenkamp, is revolutionizing entrepreneurship with her educational initiatives like the F/MS startup game. Through her unique gamepreneurship methodology and AI-based tools like PlayPal, entrepreneurs across Europe are learning how to start and scale their ventures effectively.
Bonenkamp's contribution to STEM and startup ecosystems, along with her expertise in deep tech and intellectual property, stands as a benchmark for aspiring founders. She also developed courses in blockchain, AI, and game design, helping European startups thrive globally.
Conclusion: A Template for Success
From Bending Spoons to emerging entrepreneurs, funding and strategic acquisitions remain significant growth drivers for startups in 2025. Tools like PlayPal, the F/MS startup toolkit, and debt funding options are accessible pathways to unlocking potential.
Whether you're an entrepreneur preparing to launch your first business or a seasoned founder planning an acquisition spree, remember that success lies in validation, planning, and leveraging resources like AI-driven tools.
Start Building Smarter Today:
FAQ
1. What is Bending Spoons, and why is it significant in the tech industry?
Bending Spoons is an Italian unicorn specializing in consumer software and known for its acquisition-driven growth model. The company has scaled successful apps like Evernote, Remini, and WeTransfer to serve over 200 million monthly users. Learn more about Bending Spoons
2. How did Bending Spoons raise €500 million in debt funding?
In August 2025, Bending Spoons secured €500 million in debt financing, jointly backed by JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and other major banks, to fuel its merger and acquisition strategy. Read the details of the €500m debt funding
3. What will the debt funding be used for?
The funding will be used to acquire additional consumer-focused products, expanding Bending Spoons' portfolio with profitable and scalable tech platforms.
4. Who are Bending Spoons’ major acquisition targets or past successes?
Bending Spoons has historically acquired and scaled companies like Komoot, Brightcove, Meetup, and Splice as part of its growth strategy. Check out insights into their acquisitions
5. Why is Bending Spoons a profitable company while scaling via M&A?
Their strategy focuses on acquiring already successful or high-potential consumer-driven platforms, ensuring each acquisition aligns with their scalable and profit-focused business model.
6. What financial achievements has Bending Spoons reported in 2025?
The company's revenue in 2025 is projected to surpass €1.1 billion, with all business lines being profitable.
7. What lessons can other startups learn from Bending Spoons' M&A strategy?
Startups can learn the importance of focusing on profitable acquisitions, building credibility with banks, and balancing debt with strong revenue streams to scale responsibly.
8. Are there tools to help startups replicate Bending Spoons' success?
Yes, tools like PlayPal for entrepreneurial support and F/MS AI Grant Finder for discovering EU funding opportunities can be beneficial. Discover PlayPal for entrepreneurial growth | Find EU grants with F/MS AI Grant Finder
9. What role do global banks play in tech startup funding?
Banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs fund startups like Bending Spoons when their profitability, growth roadmap, and M&A models demonstrate credibility and sustainable returns.
10. How is AI contributing to modern startup success?
AI tools like PlayPal, startup-focused grant finders, and legal evaluators improve operational efficiency, funding strategies, and broader entrepreneurial success. Explore AI tools for entrepreneurs
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond and launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch. The Fe/male Switch team is located in several countries, including the Netherlands and Malta.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 3,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
