Curved Spoons Buy Evernote, End of an Era • TechCrunch

Evernote, a note-taking and to-do management app founded 20 years ago, has been sponsored by Milan-based app developer Bending. In a post on Evernote’s newsroom, Evernote CEO Ian Small said Bending Spoons will take ownership of Evernote in a transaction expected to close in early 2023.

“For Evernote, this decision is the next strategic step in our journey to become an extension of your mind,” Small wrote. “It will be mixed with folding spoons. [accelerate] Delivering updates on our group, professional, personal and free offerings.

For Evernote, the acquisition — the terms of which have not been made public — marks the end of a roller coaster ride.

In the year Redwood City-based Evernote, founded in 2000 by Russian-American entrepreneur Stepan Pachikov, developed handwriting-recognition software for Windows and a note-taking, web-clipping application called Evernote, which stores notes on “an anonymous roll of paper.” In the year Under CEO Phil Libin, who joined the company in 2007, Evernote shifted its focus to the web, smartphones and Macs, starting with Evernote 3.0 in 2008.

This proved to be a winning strategy – at least at first. In the year Between 2010 and 2015, Evernote raised hundreds of millions of dollars in capital from investors including Sequoia, Meritech Capital and Japanese media company Nikkei. His web service has reached 11 million users in the first three years and Evernote has started a business in China, Yinxiang, Beijing, which the startup wants to expand quickly.

In the year In 2013, Evernote was reportedly worth nearly one billion dollars. But then a problem arose.

Evernote’s chief operating officer, who was appointed in June 2015, left a few months later. Libin, meanwhile, pursued partnerships with physical goods brands like Moleskine and Pfeiffer, failing to capture mainstream Evernote-branded desk accessories.

Former Google Glass executive Chris O’Neill replaced Libin in July 2015. In October of that year, Evernote laid off 18% of its workforce and closed three of its ten global offices.

In the year August 2018 saw the exodus of Evernote’s top executives, including its chief technical officer, chief financial officer, chief product officer and head of human resources. 15 percent of the company’s workforce was laid off in September 2018, a move O’Neill said was necessary to address the company’s recent expansion and “inefficiencies.”

The former CEO of small, platform-as-a-service company Talkbox arrived in 2018. Under his leadership, Evernote hit $100 million in recurring revenue, millions of paying customers, and more than 250 million users. But it has failed to keep up with competitors like Notion, relying on a consumer-focused freemium model that eschews the collaborative features adopted by its rivals.

So what do folding spoons gain with the purchase? Another feather in the software’s cap, it seems. The European tech company makes apps like video editor Splice, 30 Day Workout, Live Quiz and photo editor Remini, which together have around 100 million users.

According to BendingSponse CEO Luca Ferrari, BendingSponsor – fresh from a $340 million venture – will use its “proprietary technologies” on Evernote to “increase the advantage” and “strengthen its reach.”

“Our mission at Bending Spoons is to make a lasting positive impact on our customers, our teammates, and the community at large. Every day, millions of people around the world rely on Evernote to organize their lives,” Ferrari said in a statement. We are delighted to be able to serve his large and loyal customer base.”