BlogFailed Startups
/
Evernote Acquisition

Evernote Acquisition: Key Details, Impact, and What Comes Next

February 13, 2025

The acquisition of Evernote by Bending Spoons marks a significant shift in the productivity app landscape. This strategic move by the Milan-based tech company aims to leverage its proprietary technologies to enhance Evernote's offerings. The acquisition is expected to bring accelerated improvements and expanded reach, benefiting Evernote's extensive user base and solidifying Bending Spoons' position in the industry.

What Is Evernote?

Founded in 2008, Evernote is a comprehensive note-taking and organizational tool that offers a range of features designed to enhance productivity. Its core services include capturing notes in various formats, integrating tasks and schedules, and providing powerful search capabilities. Unique selling points include automatic syncing across devices, AI-powered search, and real-time collaboration tools. Evernote's ability to handle diverse content types and its offline mode make it a versatile solution for both personal and team use.

Who Acquired Evernote?

Bending Spoons is a prominent player in the digital products industry, known for operating leading applications such as Meetup, Remini, Splice, StreamYard, and WeTransfer. The company excels in engineering and AI, enhancing millions of photos daily and making billions of predictions. With nearly a billion users globally and 300 million monthly active users, Bending Spoons holds a significant market position. Their commitment to social responsibility and a positive workplace culture further solidifies their influence.

When Was Evernote Acquired?

Bending Spoons announced the acquisition of Evernote on November 16, 2022, with the transaction expected to close in early 2023. This acquisition comes at a time when Evernote has been struggling to compete with newer productivity tools like Notion. The timing reflects a broader industry trend of established tech companies being acquired by more agile firms to drive innovation and growth. Bending Spoons aims to leverage its technologies to revitalize Evernote's offerings.

Why Was Evernote Acquired?

  • Market Expansion: The acquisition of Evernote by Bending Spoons is a strategic move to expand its market reach. Evernote's global user base, with millions of paying customers and approximately $100 million in recurring revenue, allows Bending Spoons to serve a large and loyal customer base, thereby significantly expanding its market presence.
  • Technology Integration: Bending Spoons plans to apply its proprietary platform technologies to Evernote to augment its usefulness and strengthen its reach. This integration aims to leverage Bending Spoons' successful platform-based approach to innovation, enhancing Evernote's capabilities and making it more competitive in the productivity app market.
  • Competitive Advantage: The acquisition strengthens Bending Spoons' position against competitors by combining its vast coverage of half a billion app downloads with Evernote's existing global user base. This synergy is expected to bring extensive, accelerated improvements to Evernote's offerings, giving it a competitive edge over rivals like Notion.

Acquisition Terms

  • Acquisition Price: The acquisition price was not publicly disclosed.
  • Payment Method: The payment method was not specified.
  • Key Conditions or Agreements:
    • The transaction is expected to close in early 2023.
    • Bending Spoons plans to apply its proprietary technologies to enhance Evernote's product.
    • Bending Spoons raised prices and laid off employees following the acquisition.
    • The acquisition is part of Bending Spoons' strategy to grow their business by acquiring, restructuring, and finding synergies.
    • The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Impact on Evernote

The acquisition of Evernote by Bending Spoons has led to notable changes in operations and management. Following the acquisition, Bending Spoons implemented significant layoffs, including 129 employees from Evernote, as part of a broader restructuring effort. This move aligns with Bending Spoons' strategy of acquiring and streamlining companies to enhance efficiency. Additionally, the leadership at Evernote has seen a shift, with Bending Spoons planning to integrate its proprietary technologies to revitalize Evernote's offerings, indicating a potential change in strategic direction.

Product offerings and services have also been impacted. Bending Spoons has raised prices and restricted Evernote's free plan to just 50 notes, aiming for better monetization. While these changes are intended to improve the platform's financial health, they have sparked mixed reactions from customers. Some users express concern over declining customer service and product reliability, while others remain optimistic about the potential for accelerated improvements. Employees have faced uncertainty due to layoffs, but leadership remains hopeful about the future under Bending Spoons' ownership.

For founders considering business transitions, tools like Sunset can assist in managing such processes compliantly, ensuring smoother transitions and better outcomes for all stakeholders involved.