Where is Ryan Reynolds investing? Milan's Bending Spoons scoops $340 million for creator-centric mobile apps

The Italian platform, whose apps include popular video editing tool Splice and Remini, an image editor based on AI, will utilise the new capital for new acquisitions and product development
Where is Ryan Reynolds investing? Milan's Bending Spoons scoops $340 million for creator-centric mobile apps

We are in an era where storytelling has been influenced by the rapid growth of digital reality. This digital reality —augmented, virtual, and mixed reality, as well as 360-degree videos — is disrupting our knowledge of storytelling wide open through increasingly immersive and self-directed experiences. As a result, platforms working on visual storytelling and visual editing are rapidly becoming the choice for content creators across the globe.

As demand for mobile-first creator tools soars, Milan-based app developer Bending Spoons has now scored $340 million in funding to deliver pro-grade creative capabilities through apps that are intuitive and easy to use.

Being bootstrapped for almost a decade, this is the first time the company has raised an investment. According to the startup, it has already surpassed $100 million in annual revenue. The capital infusion will fuel further innovations in product development, help expand marketing efforts, and fund new acquisitions.

The backers of the round include Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, Gabrielle Union, Kerry Trainor, former CEO of Vimeo, Japanese footballer Keisuke Honda, Banco BPM and Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo.

Founded in 2013, Bending Spoons is building a suite of mobile apps aimed at content creators, including video editing app Splice and AI-based photo editor Remini. The company’s apps are currently being used by more than 90 million people every month, with over 500 million app downloads to date.

Luca Ferrari, CEO and co-founder of Bending Spoons said: “Our mission at Bending Spoons is to make an enduring positive impact on our customers, on our teammates, and on society at large. And building tools to help creators develop wonderful content that reaches billions of people each month is an important step in this direction.”

Ryan Reynolds, co-founder of Maximum Effort added: “I’m excited about what Bending Spoons is building in the creator economy. Their apps enable anyone to become a creative genius with minimum effort. In fact, their products terrify me so much, I had to invest.”

Kerry Trainor, founder of Creator Partners and former CEO of Vimeo and SoundCloud added: “Modern creators demand innovative technology that continually redefines what’s possible. Bending Spoons’ passion for delivering pro-grade mobile creation is the future.”

Follow the developments in the technology world. What would you like us to deliver to you?
Your subscription registration has been successfully created.