Bending Spoons, the Italian software company, has agreed to buy Airtable in an all-cash deal that values the U.S. software firm at $1.285 billion. This marks the company's first acquisition since it went public on the Nasdaq in June.
The deal gives Airtable an equity value of about $2.25 billion once its cash balance is factored in, according to Reuters.
Why Airtable's Sale Price Is a Massive Drop
The price is a steep decline from Airtable's peak valuation. The database and spreadsheet company raised more than $1.4 billion in venture funding and was valued at over $11 billion during the 2021 tech boom, when investors were pricing software companies on growth alone.
Earlier this year, Airtable's shares traded on secondary markets at around $4 billion. Tuesday's deal values the company at less than a quarter of that secondary market figure, as reported by LinkedIn News.
"The price marks a steep decline from Airtable's $11 billion peak valuation." — LinkedIn News
Bending Spoons' First Move as a Public Company
Bending Spoons, which posted a 95% revenue growth year-over-year, is making this its first post-IPO acquisition. The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2026, according to Reuters on Facebook.
Airtable, valued at $11 billion in 2021 after a trio of funding rounds in under two years, is now being acquired by the Italian conglomerate, as noted by The Information.
What This Deal Means for the Software Market
This acquisition shows how much the software market has changed since the 2021 boom. Companies that once commanded massive valuations based on growth alone are now being bought at fractions of their peak prices.
- Airtable raised over $1.4 billion in venture funding during its lifetime
- The company was valued at more than $11 billion at its peak in 2021
- Its shares traded at around $4 billion on secondary markets earlier this year
- The final deal values the company at $1.285 billion in cash
Our Take: A Reality Check for Tech Valuations
To put it plainly, this deal is a wake-up call for the software industry. Airtable went from an $11 billion valuation to a $1.285 billion sale price — that is a staggering drop of roughly $9 billion.
In our view, this is not just about one company's misfortune. It signals that the era of growth-at-any-cost pricing is over. Investors are now looking at fundamentals — revenue, profitability, and real business performance — rather than just potential.
For Bending Spoons, this looks like a smart move. The company is growing fast, with 95% revenue growth year-over-year, and it just picked up a well-known software product at a steep discount. For Airtable's investors, however, this deal is a painful reminder that paper valuations mean little until a company actually sells.
Readers should watch how Bending Spoons integrates Airtable into its portfolio. If the Italian company can turn Airtable around, this could be one of the smartest tech acquisitions in recent memory. If not, it will stand as another example of how quickly fortunes can change in the software world.
