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Bending Spoons to Buy Airtable for About $1.28 Billion

The all-cash purchase is an early test of Bending Spoons’ buy-and-hold roll-up strategy funded with proceeds from its recent IPO.

Overview

  • The companies signed a definitive agreement that was unanimously approved by both boards, and the deal values Airtable at roughly $1.285 billion enterprise value and about $2.25 billion equity when its net cash is included; closing is expected later in 2026 pending regulatory review.
  • Airtable reported about $480 million in annual recurring revenue as of June 2026, growing more than 20% year over year, and serves roughly 500,000 organizations including about 80% of the Fortune 100.
  • The purchase represents a steep markdown from Airtable’s 2021 peak valuation above $11 billion and from earlier 2026 secondary-market indications near $4 billion, a gap that will materially affect returns for early venture investors.
  • Bending Spoons has a repeatable playbook of buying known digital products, cutting costs, centralizing engineering and AI work, and holding them long term, and Airtable is its first acquisition since the July IPO.
  • Both firms will operate independently until closing, and observers should watch regulatory sign-off, Bending Spoons’ integration and AI plans, and how this use of IPO capital shapes future discounted software purchases.