Italy-based company Bending Spoons, which owns apps such as Evernote and Meetup, said Wednesday it has acquired file transfer service WeTransfer. The companies didn’t disclose the terms and valuation of the deal.
WeTransfer CEO Alexandar Vassilev said that in the last decade the platform development resulted in 600,000 subscribers and 80 million monthly active users.
“Nurturing creative communities and amplifying their voices has been key to our success. Some of Bending Spoons’ most successful products are tools that serve creativity; therefore we are confident that this milestone will complement both businesses, supercharge our growth, and help us create even more value for creative industries at large,” Vassilev said in a statement.
The Dutch company last raised $25 million from Highland Capital Partners Europe in 2015 to expand its footprint. In 2019, the company raised €35 million in a Series B round from European growth equity firm HPE Growth, with significant backing from Highland Europe through secondary sales. The startup also considered going public at one point in time but withdrew its plans because of volatility in the market.
“WeTransfer is a highly respected name in the technology and creative spaces. We’re enthusiastic about becoming its new owner, and we feel a strong sense of responsibility to help the brand and the business thrive for many years to come,” Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari said in a statement.
Bending Spoons said that it will continue reserving 30% of WeTransfer’s advertising space to give back campaigns and editorial content.
Earlier this year, WeTransfer added a new feature for creators to sell digital files directly on its platform, supporting more than 100 currencies.
What does this mean for WeTransfer?
Bending Spoons typically transforms the business models of companies it acquires. For instance, Evernote restricted its free plan to just 50 notes in November 2023. Currently, WeTransfer’s Pro plan is priced at $10 a month with 1TB of storage and the ability to send and receive files of up to 200GB. There is also a $19 per month premium plan with no limits. This might change under Bending Spoons’ leadership.
The Italy-based company also regularly lays off staff of companies it acquires. In February 2023, it laid off 129 employees from Evernote’s staff. In December 2023, Bending Spoons slashed all people working at Filmic, the popular photo and video editing app that it acquired in 2022.
Bending Spoons didn’t immediately comment on plans for changing pricing or layoffs with regards to WeTransfer.
Bending Spoons raised $155 million in equity financing earlier this year from Durable Capital Partners along with existing investors, including Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, NB Renaissance, NUO Capital and StarTIP (controlled by Tamburi Investment Partners).
