Hollywood stars, tech execs invest in Italian startup Bending Spoons

Actor Ryan Reynolds gestures as he speaks during a conference at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

MILAN, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Italian app developer BendingSponse has raised more than $340 million from investors including Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds and former video streaming platform Vimeo ( VMEO.O ) CEO Kerry Trainor.

The Bending Spoon app said the money could be used for purchases like Splice, a popular video hosting tool, and Remini, an image editor based on artificial intelligence technology.

Former Google ( GOOGL.O ) executive and CEO Eric Schmidt is among the investors, a source close to the company said.

Other backers include Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo ( ISP.MI ) and Banco BPM ( BAMI.MI ), the Milan-based startup said in a statement.

Since its launch in 2013, Bending Spoon has recorded more than 500 million downloads and has 90 million monthly active users, according to its website.

In the year In 2020, he also developed the Immuni app used to track Covid-19 infections in Italy.

(This story adjusts the currency in the first paragraph from euros to dollars.)

Reporting by Elvira Pollina Writing by Gianluca Semeraro Editing by Mark Potter

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