---
title: "The exit drought is Bending Spoons' supply chain"
description: "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."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Deals"
published: 2026-10-13T19:18:02.808Z
modified: 2026-10-13T19:18:02.808Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/the-exit-drought-is-bending-spoons-supply-chain
language: en
keywords: "M&A, Venture Capital, Software, Debt, AI"
---

# 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.

[Miro](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/miro), the online whiteboard, agreed in September to sell itself to [Bending Spoons](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/bending-spoons), 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](https://siliconangle.com/2026/10/08/us-venture-deal-value-reaches-record-515-8b-as-exits-fail-to-keep-pace/), yet third-quarter exits, excluding [SpaceX](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/spacex)'s purchase of [Anysphere](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anysphere), 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](https://www.forbes.com/sites/josipamajic/2026/09/10/bending-spoons-buys-miro-at-90-discount-as-saas-unicorns-sell-for-scraps/) 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](https://www.forbes.com/sites/josipamajic/2026/09/10/bending-spoons-buys-miro-at-90-discount-as-saas-unicorns-sell-for-scraps/) [2].

*Chart: **Two unicorns sold at about a tenth of their last round** Paired bars comparing each company's last private valuation with the enterprise value Bending Spoons agreed to pay, showing both sales at roughly a tenth of the last round*

*Last private valuation versus enterprise value paid by Bending Spoons. Airtable purchase closed September 2026; Miro price agreed, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Sources: SiliconANGLE, Business Wire, Forbes. [1][2][3]*

## 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](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/airtable) team, a month after that purchase closed, on the stated belief that small teams ship more [5]. Chief executive [Luca Ferrari](https://theinference.org/markets/people/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](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/01/after-18b-ipo-bending-spoons-founder-says-success-comes-from-minimizing-luck/) [7][8]. 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](https://finance.yahoo.com/small-business/articles/company-warns-applicants-controversial-jobs-150611486.html) [7].

*Chart: **Revenue per employee more than doubled, then the acquisitions diluted it** Column chart of Bending Spoons revenue per employee in 2023, 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, rising then dipping*

*Revenue per employee, millions of US dollars. The first quarter of 2026 sits below 2025 because acquisitions add headcount before they add revenue. Sources: Entrepreneur, TechCrunch. [7][8]*

## 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].

*Chart: **Borrowings climbed from under a billion to $4.9 billion in 18 months** Line chart of Bending Spoons reported borrowings at quarter ends, from $0.4 billion in late 2023 to $4.9 billion in mid 2026*

*Reported borrowings at quarter ends, billions of US dollars, as filed with the SEC. Debt was not reported in the first and second quarters of 2025. Source: Bending Spoons quarterly SEC filings, retrieved 13 October 2026 [12]. [12]*

The quieter risk sits at the bottom of the market. [Glide](https://www.glideapps.com/pricing), 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](https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/bending-spoons-deploys-ai-to-overhaul-acquired-software-companies/) from long-term subscribers even as retention held [6][8]. 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](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/bending-spoons-enters-definitive-agreement-120000366.html), pending regulatory approvals [1]. The [pricing of the next term-loan add-on](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/bending-spoons-successfully-syndicates-upsized-183100568.html) will show what the debt costs [10]. [Miro's headcount once the deal closes](https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/companies/month-after-acquiring-airtable-for-1-28-billion-bending-spoons-lays-off-large-part-of-company-20010811.htm) 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].

## Takeaway

The shut exit market set the price: Miro sold at about a tenth of its 2022 valuation to a debt-funded serial acquirer whose shareholders, not the sellers, keep what AI-driven cost cuts compound afterwards.

## Sources

1. [Business Wire via Yahoo Finance, Bending Spoons enters into a definitive agreement to acquire Miro for $1.355 billion, 10 September 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/bending-spoons-enters-definitive-agreement-120000366.html)
2. [Forbes, Josipa Majic Predin, Bending Spoons Buys Miro At 90% Discount As SaaS Unicorns Sell For Scraps, 10 September 2026](https://www.forbes.com/sites/josipamajic/2026/09/10/bending-spoons-buys-miro-at-90-discount-as-saas-unicorns-sell-for-scraps/)
3. [SiliconANGLE, Duncan Riley, US venture deal value reaches record $515.8B as exits fail to keep pace, 8 October 2026](https://siliconangle.com/2026/10/08/us-venture-deal-value-reaches-record-515-8b-as-exits-fail-to-keep-pace/)
4. [X post by @m0xt_ on $BSP, collected 9 October 2026](https://x.com/m0xt_/status/2108154198336655601)
5. [CNBC TV18, Month after acquiring Airtable for $1.28 billion, Bending Spoons lays off large part of company, 13 October 2026](https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/companies/month-after-acquiring-airtable-for-1-28-billion-bending-spoons-lays-off-large-part-of-company-20010811.htm)
6. [PYMNTS, Bending Spoons Deploys AI to Overhaul Acquired Software Companies, 9 October 2026](https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/bending-spoons-deploys-ai-to-overhaul-acquired-software-companies/)
7. [Entrepreneur via Yahoo Finance, Sherin Shibu, This Company Warns Applicants About Its 'Controversial' Jobs. 800,000 People Still Applied., 12 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/small-business/articles/company-warns-applicants-controversial-jobs-150611486.html)
8. [TechCrunch, Anna Heim, After $18B IPO, Bending Spoons founder says success comes from minimizing luck, 1 July 2026](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/01/after-18b-ipo-bending-spoons-founder-says-success-comes-from-minimizing-luck/)
9. [Bending Spoons, quarterly borrowings and revenue from its SEC filings, retrieved 13 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0002004711)
10. [Business Wire via Yahoo Finance, Bending Spoons successfully syndicates upsized term loan B add-ons, 25 September 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/bending-spoons-successfully-syndicates-upsized-183100568.html)
11. [Glide, pricing page for GlideOS, retrieved 13 October 2026](https://www.glideapps.com/pricing)
12. [Bending Spoons, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 13 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0002004711)


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The exit drought is Bending Spoons' supply chain — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/the-exit-drought-is-bending-spoons-supply-chain