Bending Spoons' €1.5M Gambit in Europe's Tech Talent War

MILAN – February 10, 2026 – Bending Spoons, the Italian technology powerhouse known for acquiring and revitalizing digital brands like Evernote, Vimeo, and WeTransfer, today announced a €1.5 million investment into a new fellowship program. While on the surface a generous academic grant, the move is a calculated and aggressive play in the escalating war for Europe’s most brilliant technology minds.

The Bending Spoons Fellowship will award ten scholarships, each worth a staggering €50,000 per year and renewable for up to three years, to top-tier university students in computer science and related fields across Europe and the UK. This initiative arrives as the continent grapples with a severe and growing tech talent shortage that threatens its economic competitiveness and digital ambitions.

The New Gold Rush: Competing for Europe's Tech Minds

The fellowship is not being launched in a vacuum. Europe is facing a critical deficit of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals. The European Union has a goal of employing 20 million ICT specialists by 2030, yet with only 9 million currently in the workforce, industry experts project that target may not be reached until 2051 without significant intervention.

This scarcity is most acute in high-demand, specialized fields. Over 60% of EU enterprises report difficulty filling ICT specialist roles, with the demand for AI engineers, cloud computing experts, and cybersecurity professionals far outstripping the available supply. The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has further intensified this pressure, with 75% of European employers struggling to hire for AI-related positions in 2023.

This fierce competition has created a 'brain drain' effect, where highly skilled European talent is often lured to the United States and other global tech hubs by more competitive salaries and established ecosystems. Bending Spoons’ substantial investment can be seen as a direct countermeasure, designed not only to attract but also to anchor premier talent within Europe.

Beyond Philanthropy: A Strategic Investment in Talent Density

The fellowship program aligns perfectly with Bending Spoons' core business strategy, which is built on a philosophy of "talent density." The company’s model involves acquiring established digital businesses and overhauling their technology, user interface, and market strategy. This requires a small but exceptionally skilled workforce capable of driving rapid and high-impact transformations.

This focus on elite talent is reflected in the company's notoriously selective hiring process. In 2025 alone, Bending Spoons received nearly 800,000 job applications, extending offers to a mere 0.04% of candidates. The firm prioritizes identifying and cultivating high-potential individuals, often young graduates, and rapidly developing them into leaders. The new fellowship acts as a powerful, early-stage recruitment tool to feed this highly selective pipeline.

“We think exceptional talent deserves exceptional opportunities,” said Costanza Mazzei, the Bending Spoons talent manager leading the program, in the company's official announcement. “With the Bending Spoons Fellowship, we aim to give Europe’s most driven students the freedom, resources, and guidance to reach the highest levels of excellence.”

By identifying and funding the most promising computer science students before they even enter the job market, Bending Spoons is making a long-term investment in its most critical resource: human capital. The program provides a direct pathway for the company to nurture these students through mentorship and an optional paid summer internship, shaping them into the type of innovators needed to lead its portfolio of billion-dollar brands.

Setting a New Benchmark for Student Support

The sheer scale of the Bending Spoons Fellowship sets it apart in the European corporate scholarship landscape. At €50,000 per year—a potential total of €150,000 per student—the financial award dwarfs most comparable programs from other tech giants. For instance, Google's Generation Google Scholarship offers €7,000 annually, while Amazon's Future Engineer program in the UK provides up to £20,000 over four years.

The fellowship’s value is designed to provide genuine financial freedom, allowing students to focus entirely on their studies and personal projects without the burden of financial constraints. This, combined with individual mentorship from Bending Spoons' own experts and the opportunity for hands-on experience through an internship, creates a comprehensive support package that is virtually unmatched.

This high-value proposition is a clear signal of intent. The company is not just contributing to education; it is actively competing to secure the absolute best, creating an offer so compelling that it redefines what top students can expect in terms of corporate support.

A History of Cultivating Innovators

This ambitious program is not an isolated gesture but the latest evolution in Bending Spoons' long-standing commitment to talent development. The company has a history of running targeted initiatives to engage with Europe's brightest students.

Its exclusive, all-expenses-paid "First Ascent" tech retreats have brought promising computer science students to Milan for immersive experiences with company engineers and leadership. Furthermore, Bending Spoons has sponsored specific scholarship programs, including the "Women in Computer Science Scholarship" to address gender disparity in the field, and organized technical competitions like the "Mine the Matrix" Capture The Flag contest for cybersecurity enthusiasts.

The Bending Spoons Fellowship represents a significant scaling-up of these previous efforts, consolidating them into a flagship program that aims to attract the most exceptional talent from across the entire continent. As applications open today, the initiative marks a new chapter for both the company and the European tech scene. It presents a life-altering opportunity for ten students while simultaneously serving as a powerful strategic maneuver by a company that has built its empire on identifying and leveraging elite talent.