Bending Spoons Acquires Miro for $1.36 Billion After 92% Valuation Drop

A Pattern Emerges in SaaS Consolidation

Bending Spoons has closed its acquisition of Miro for $1.36 billion in cash, with an equity value of $1.79 billion. The deal represents a 92 per cent decline from the collaboration platform's $17.5 billion valuation assigned in late 2021, when remote work demand drove unprecedented growth in workplace software.

The Milan-based acquirer is building a distinct playbook: purchasing recognisable software companies that commanded extraordinary valuations during the pandemic boom but have since matured into profitable, slower-growing businesses with substantial recurring revenue. Last month, Bending Spoons bought Airtable for $1.28 billion, down from its $11 billion peak valuation in 2021. The pattern suggests a systematic exploitation of the gap between 2021-era pricing, which assumed these firms would become software giants, and their actual trajectory as solid but more modest enterprises.

From Whiteboard to Workspace

Miro launched in 2011 as RealtimeBoard, a digital whiteboarding tool that found its moment during the COVID-19 pandemic. As organisations shifted to distributed work, demand surged for tools that could replicate in-person collaboration. The platform expanded rapidly, integrating with more than 250 applications and establishing partnerships with Atlassian, Cisco, Microsoft, and Zoom. It opened its platform to user-built integrations and customisation, allowing teams to adapt the tool to specific workflows.

Between 2020 and 2022, Miro's user base grew from 5 million to approximately 30 million. Its paying customer base expanded by 550 per cent during the same period. Today, the company reports more than 4 million paying users within a total user base of 100 million. According to Bending Spoons, Miro generates roughly $600 million in annual recurring revenue, with 90 per cent originating from business and enterprise customers. The company holds about $435 million in net cash and operates profitably.

Miro has since repositioned itself as an AI innovation workspace, adding AI assistants for whiteboard tools, AI-driven workflows, prototyping capabilities, and connectors that pull context from platforms including GitHub, Jira, and Slack.

The Unravelling of SaaS Multiples

The 92 per cent valuation decline illustrates how dramatically software-as-a-service pricing has corrected since the 2021 peak. As pandemic tailwinds faded in 2022, enterprises began tightening technology spending, eliminating duplicate applications and consolidating licences. Collaboration tools faced particular pressure as businesses shifted preference towards integrated suites rather than standalone products.

Miro operates in a crowded space alongside better-capitalised competitors including Canva, Figma, and Microsoft. The competitive landscape likely accelerated the company's margin compression. Miro, which employed approximately 1,200 people in 2022, conducted two rounds of layoffs: 119 staff in February 2023 and reportedly another 275 in October 2024.

Strategic Questions Around the Exit

The transaction raises questions about why Miro's board and investors agreed to the sale at this valuation, particularly given the company's profitability and cash position. The company did not face an immediate liquidity need, yet chose to exit at a price far below its previous funding rounds.

One explanation lies in diminished confidence around exit opportunities for mid-tier SaaS companies. The window for software IPOs has narrowed considerably since 2021, and strategic acquirers have shown limited appetite for premium multiples. For venture investors holding positions since earlier rounds, the prospect of waiting years for a return to previous valuations, or accepting that such a return may never materialise, makes a certain exit attractive despite the steep discount.

Bending Spoons benefits from this shift in sentiment. The firm is acquiring companies with proven business models, established customer bases, and positive unit economics at valuations that reflect realistic growth expectations rather than speculative projections. For the Italian buyer, Miro represents immediate revenue and cash flow without the execution risk of building from scratch.

A New Baseline for Software Assets

The Miro transaction, following closely on the Airtable deal, suggests a repricing of an entire cohort of SaaS companies that raised capital during the 2020-2021 boom. Many of these firms expanded headcount and infrastructure based on growth rates that proved unsustainable once remote work normalised. They now find themselves in a market where public comparables trade at far lower multiples and private buyers can negotiate from a position of strength.

For founders and investors in similar companies, the deals set an uncomfortable precedent. Valuations that once seemed conservative now appear aspirational. The choice increasingly comes down to accepting a significant markdown for near-term liquidity or holding on in hope of a market recovery that may take years, if it arrives at all.

Bending Spoons, meanwhile, is assembling a portfolio of mature software assets at prices that allow for operational flexibility and long-term value creation without the pressure of justifying inflated entry multiples. The strategy works precisely because these companies are functional businesses generating real revenue, not distressed assets requiring turnaround. They simply failed to meet the trajectory their 2021 valuations implied.

Implications for the Collaboration Tools Market

The acquisition consolidates the collaboration software landscape, placing another major platform under the control of a holding company known for operational efficiency rather than aggressive growth investment. Bending Spoons has historically focused on optimising existing products and monetising established user bases rather than pursuing market expansion through heavy sales and marketing spend.

For Miro's users and customers, the ownership change will likely bring shifts in product development priorities and pricing strategy. The company's AI-driven features and enterprise focus may continue, but the pace of innovation could moderate as the new owner prioritises margin improvement over growth.

Competitors including Figma, Canva, and Microsoft's collaboration suite now face a rival with a different cost structure and strategic timeline. Bending Spoons can afford to play a longer game, focusing on retention and gradual monetisation rather than market share battles. That shift in competitive dynamics may influence pricing and feature development across the sector.

The transaction also signals to other SaaS companies that the path to exit in the current environment may require accepting valuations well below previous funding rounds. The era of upward-only pricing in software has ended, replaced by a market that demands profitability, sustainable growth, and realistic expectations. For companies still carrying inflated valuations from 2021, the Miro deal offers a sobering data point on what buyers are willing to pay in 2026.