Bending Spoons has agreed to acquire Airtable in an all-cash transaction valuing the US work-management software company at an enterprise value of $1.285bn.
Including Airtable’s net cash and cash equivalents, the deal implies an equity value of approximately $2.25bn, according to the companies. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close later this year.
The price represents a substantial drop from Airtable’s 2021 peak private valuation of $11.7bn, achieved during a $735m funding round. But the acquisition should not be read simply as a story of generative AI displacing a legacy no-code platform.
“Airtable is a pioneering brand reshaping how teams organise data and manage critical workflows,” said Luca Ferrari, CEO and co-founder of Bending Spoons.
“We’re committed to investing in Airtable for the long run, and doubling down on its core strength: bringing teams and workflows together in one flexible workspace.”
Airtable said annual recurring revenue grew more than 20 percent year-on-year to around $480m as of June 2026. It also said more than 500,000 organisations use its platform, including 80 percent of the Fortune 100.
The deal illustrates how the market’s expectations of enterprise software have changed.
Platforms that once differentiated through easy-to-build custom applications and workflow automation are now under pressure to show how they can become the operating layer for AI-enabled work.
Bending Spoons said Airtable will join a portfolio that includes AOL, Brightcove, Eventbrite, Evernote, Vimeo and WeTransfer. The acquisition is the Italian company’s first since its Nasdaq listing on 1 July.
A Steep Valuation Reset
Airtable, founded in 2013, built its reputation by combining the familiarity of a spreadsheet with database functionality, allowing business users to create applications and manage operational workflows without engineering support.
That proposition became particularly valuable as enterprises sought to digitise operations quickly. Yet its 2021 valuation reflected a very different market environment: abundant private capital, high-growth SaaS multiples and investor enthusiasm for no-code software.
At an implied $2.25bn equity value, the transaction values Airtable at around 81 percent below that 2021 high.
However, Airtable’s reported ARR performance suggests the company retains a meaningful enterprise business. The key question is whether its product can gain greater strategic importance as organisations move from isolated generative AI tools to governed, integrated AI workflows.
Growth Still Tells Another Story
Airtable says it had ARR of approximately $480m as of June 2026, up more than 20 percent year-on-year.
The platform has also claimed more than 500,000 organisational customers, including 80 percent of the Fortune 100. That gives Bending Spoons an established enterprise customer base, rather than a turnaround target with little evidence of sustained demand.
Airtable’s challenge is now to turn that installed base into a stronger AI proposition. Its original promise was to give non-technical teams the ability to build the applications and workflows they needed without waiting for engineering resources.
As generative AI reshapes how work is designed and automated, that proposition is evolving. Enterprise customers increasingly need systems that can connect structured data, business processes, governance and AI agents in one environment.
AI Becomes the Next Test
Airtable has already begun positioning itself for the AI shift.
Earlier this year, it launched Superagent, a platform designed to enable customers to orchestrate teams of AI agents to complete tasks.
Howie Liu, Airtable’s co-founder and CEO, said the acquisition would help the company advance its AI ambitions.
“Partnering with Bending Spoons gives us the resources and the long-term commitment Airtable needs to pursue that vision even more boldly as we build the AI-native platform of the future.”
Bending Spoons has also made AI a prominent part of its own operating model.
The company says transformations at acquired businesses can involve team restructuring, technology overhauls, interface redesigns, product development and monetisation changes. It says AI is often both central to its vision for acquired companies and a tool used to carry out those transformations.
That makes Airtable an important test case for the buyer’s approach. The opportunity is to develop the company from a flexible no-code and workflow platform into an AI-enabled workspace that can orchestrate work across departments.
Customers Will Want Answers
For enterprise customers, the immediate focus will be on continuity.
Bending Spoons’ acquisition model has delivered a portfolio spanning consumer and business technology brands, but it is known for deep operational change. Airtable customers will want detail on the company’s product roadmap, pricing, support model and integration plans once the deal is completed.
Data governance will also be a key issue. As Airtable expands AI capabilities, customers will seek assurances on where their business data is processed, how it is protected and whether it will be used to train or improve AI systems.
Until the transaction closes, Airtable and Bending Spoons will continue to operate independently.
The acquisition gives Bending Spoons another substantial productivity platform at a time when AI vendors, cloud providers and established enterprise software companies are competing to own the systems through which work is coordinated.
For Airtable, the next phase will be less about defending the old no-code category than proving it can become a trusted platform for organisations deploying AI at scale.
