The exit drought is Bending Spoons' supply chain
Miro agreed to sell itself to Bending Spoons at a $1.36 billion enterprise value, about a tenth of its 2022 mark, with the close expected this quarter. The shut exit market sets the price; the buyer's shareholders collect the compounding.
Richard Tang · 3 min read
Miro$1.79B — Miro, private, latest valuation $1.79B, the online whiteboard, agreed in September to sell itself to Bending Spoons+2.86% — Bending Spoons, up 2.86 percent as of its last quote, the Milan software consolidator listed on Nasdaq since July, at an enterprise value of $1.36 billion 1. Investors had valued Miro at $17.5 billion at its January 2022 round 2. PitchBook's quarterly Venture Monitor, published on October 8, expects the close this quarter 3.
Last week the buyer's shares jumped 24 percent on about four times normal volume, on no news beyond posts about the term loans funding the purchase 4. The market was repricing Bending Spoons' acquisition machine, not Miro's business. The closed exit market is that machine's supply line.
Sellers take a tenth because nothing else clears
US venture put a record $515.8 billion to work in nine months, yet third-quarter exits, excluding SpaceX's−4.31% — SpaceX, down 4.31 percent today purchase of Anysphere$30B — Anysphere, private, latest valuation $30B, the Cursor developer, came to $53 billion, the weakest since late 2024 3. On the secondary marketplace run by Forge Global, shares from 2021 fundraisings change hands at a median 59 percent discount 3.
Miro still collects about $600 million of recurring revenue, most of it from business customers 1. Growth funds set its old price in a zero-rate market, as Forbes contributor Josipa Majic Predin puts it, and an acquirer with a cash-flow model sets the new one 2.
Some of Miro's shareholders would rather own the machine than take the cash: they are rolling $295 million of their proceeds into new Bending Spoons stock 1. Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das reckons the price is enough for investors to recover their capital, while employees who joined from 2021 onward hold options that are likely worthless 2.
Two unicorns sold at about a tenth of their last round
- Last private valuation
- Price Bending Spoons pays
Data
| Last private valuation | Price Bending Spoons pays | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airtable | $11.70B | $1.30B | -88.9% |
| Miro | $17.50B | $1.36B | -92.2% |
AI is on both sides of the trade
The price only works because of what happens after closing. On October 12 Bending Spoons laid off a large part of the Airtable$1.285B — Airtable, private, latest valuation $1.285B team, a month after that purchase closed, on the stated belief that small teams ship more 5. Chief executive Luca Ferrari says AI now writes at least 90 percent of the company's code, and that fear of what AI does to software businesses drove the valuation slump that made Miro affordable 6.
Revenue per employee rose from $1.12 million in 2023 to $2.57 million in 2025, a jump the IPO filing credits in part to AI 78. The first quarter of 2026 ran at $0.97 million per employee, below 2025, because acquisitions add headcount before they add revenue 8. Six hundred employees now run a portfolio that stretches from AOL to Airtable 7.
Revenue per employee more than doubled, then the acquisitions diluted it
Data
| Revenue per employee | |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $1.12M |
| 2025 | $2.57M |
| Q1 2026 | $0.97M |
The method still works; the balance sheet can break
Borrowings stood at $0.9 billion at the end of 2024 9. By June 30 they had reached $4.9 billion 9. The Miro purchase rides on add-ons to its bank term loans that the banks upsized beyond target, even as Moody's and S&P upgraded the company's credit ratings 10.
Borrowings climbed from under a billion to $4.9 billion in 18 months
Data
| Borrowings | |
|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | $0.39B |
| Q4 2024 | $0.87B |
| Q4 2025 | $2.67B |
| Q1 2026 | $4.36B |
| Q2 2026 | $4.88B |
The quieter risk sits at the bottom of the market. Glide, a no-code app builder, prices its AI app platform from $25 a month 11. Bending Spoons' overhaul usually includes raising subscription prices, which has drawn complaints from long-term subscribers even as retention held 68. The machine needs customers to stay when a cheap tool covers the same job.
Watch the close, the loans and Miro's headcount
The next two quarters test it. Miro is expected to close this quarter at the agreed $1.355 billion, pending regulatory approvals 1. The pricing of the next term-loan add-on will show what the debt costs 10. Miro's headcount once the deal closes will show how far the Airtable playbook travels 5.
The pipeline behind it is not in doubt. PitchBook counts 992 unicorns, companies valued at a billion dollars or more, waiting for a bid 3. Bending Spoons' own filing names more than 1,000 acquisition targets 6. What decides the equity is whether lenders keep upgrading a borrower that has never sold a business 2.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
