Bending Spoons, a Milan-based startup founded in 2013, has achieved a landmark moment with its Nasdaq listing, reaching an $18.4 billion valuation after listing shares worth $1.7 billion. The company's four cofounders have seen their combined stake soar to $8.9 billion — a remarkable return on a business built around giving struggling digital brands a second life.

The formula is straightforward but ambitious: Bending Spoons identifies stalled apps and websites, acquires them at a fraction of their original value, and rebuilds them with new technology and leaner operations. Since its founding, the company has applied this model to more than 50 businesses, including household names like AOL, Evernote, Vimeo, and Eventbrite.

The approach has drawn scrutiny, with some critics reaching for the "vulture capitalism" label. CEO Luca Ferrari pushes back firmly. He argues that Bending Spoons is in the business of revival, not asset-stripping — pointing to significant investment in rebuilding the technology stacks of acquired platforms rather than simply flipping them for profit.

The numbers back up his confidence. Revenue per employee has doubled over the past two years, outpacing major tech firms including Apple and Alphabet. The company does carry $6 billion in debt, with interest payments reaching $143 million last year — but Ferrari frames this as the cost of building a compounding engine designed for long-term growth.

With its Nasdaq listing now complete, Bending Spoons gains access to a significantly wider pool of capital — and a much larger stage on which to prove its critics wrong.