In April this year, Milan-based Bending Spoons, a provider of digital technology products, announced the acquisition of WeTransfer, a digital file-sharing and collaboration platform, for an undisclosed amount.
Fast forward five months, the Italian company is planning to lay off 75 per cent of WeTransfer’s employees, reports TechCrunch. Bending Spoons says it will let go of WeTransfer’s employees after going through local regulations regarding layoffs in different countries.
The move comes after Luca Ferrari, CEO of Bending Spoon, wants to have a small and focused team. At present, WeTransfer has around 350 employees.
“In this particular case, the vision we developed is of a smaller, more sharply focused WeTransfer organisation, which we believe will be better-positioned to serve WeTransfer’s success with a long-term view,” says Ferrari to TechCrunch.
However, Ferrari didn’t disclose any plans or long-term product roadmap for WeTransfer.
Funding and acquisition
Earlier this year, Bending Spoons secured $155M (nearly €144.41M) in an equity funding round at a $2.55B valuation post-funding.
Before WeTransfer, the Italian company acquired Issuu (a digital publishing platform), StreamYard (a live-streaming app), MeetUp, and assets of IAC mobile software subsidiary Mosaic Group.
In February this year, Bending Spoons officially opened its new headquarters in Milan, in the Porta Nuova district.
Bending Spoons: Digital product company
Founded in 2013 and led by Luca Ferrari, Bending Spoons has served a billion people through its suite of digital technology products, including Evernote, Meetup, Remini, StreamYard, and Splice.
The company’s products are currently used by more than 200 million people each month.
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