Unlocking Your Potential: Internship and Fellowship Opportunities at Bending Spoons

Bending Spoons, a company focused on acquiring and transforming digital businesses, offers exceptional opportunities for emerging technical talent through internships and fellowships. This article explores the various programs available, the benefits of joining Bending Spoons, and how to increase your chances of being selected.

Bending Spoons: A Hub for Talent and Innovation

Bending Spoons owns a diverse portfolio of digital businesses, including AOL, Brightcove, Evernote, komoot, Meetup, Remini, StreamYard, Vimeo, and WeTransfer. The company's core philosophy revolves around talent density and workplace excellence. They aim to hold acquired businesses forever and have never sold one, demonstrating a long-term commitment to growth and innovation.

The Bending Spoons Fellowship

The Bending Spoons Fellowship is designed to support emerging technical talent. Applications open on February 10, 2026, and successful recipients will be notified in June 2026. This fellowship, led by talent manager Costanza Mazzei, underscores Bending Spoons' commitment to providing exceptional opportunities for exceptional talent.

Real-World Challenges and Growth Opportunities

Interns and fellows at Bending Spoons tackle significant challenges, contributing to real-world projects. Examples include:

StreamYard data modeling (2025)
First Ascent event plan (2026)
Vimeo growth strategy (2026)
WeTransfer sales plan (2026)

These projects provide invaluable hands-on experience and the chance to make a tangible impact on the company's various digital businesses.

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Rapid Career Advancement

Bending Spoons fosters a culture where responsibility is earned through impact, not just prior experience. This approach allows talented individuals to accelerate their career growth. Consider these examples:

Jason: Joined remotely while at university at 21 and within five years led software engineering teams at Remini and Vimeo.
Martina: Joined at 24 after graduation and by 28 was leading software engineering for over 100 apps.
Florinda: Started as a part-time intern at 21 and by 27 led a business generating over $100 million in revenue.
Marco: Joined part-time at 23 and within five years headed up two businesses with millions of customers.

These stories illustrate the potential for rapid advancement within Bending Spoons for those who are talented, tenacious, and determined.

M&A Internship: A Deep Dive into Deal Processes

The Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) internship offers comprehensive exposure to the entire deal process, from the initial search to closing and integration. This hands-on experience is highly relevant for those interested in investment banking or equity research roles. The internship allows you to handle complex transactions and collaborate across various stages of a deal.

Software Engineer Summer Internship: An Immersive Experience

This internship is an exclusive opportunity for top UK students to immerse themselves in a dynamic, innovative environment. Running from June to September 2026, participants will have the chance to make a real impact, gaining invaluable hands-on experience and professional growth.

Responsibilities

As a Software Engineer Summer Intern, you will:

Read also: Comprehensive Internship Guide

Master your toolkit: Refine your ability to choose the right tools for every challenge by working across diverse tech stacks in a full-stack, end-to-end scope. You'll gain experience with monolithic to microservices architectures, gRPC to REST APIs, Kubernetes to Docker, and Python to Rust.
Build stuff that matters: Enjoy significant autonomy and take full ownership of your work, from ideation to execution. Build software from the ground up and witness firsthand how your code evolves into a product used at scale.
Simplify relentlessly: Transform complexity into simplicity by optimizing CI/CD pipelines, writing maintainable code, or crafting minimalist architectures.

What Bending Spoons Looks For

Bending Spoons seeks candidates who demonstrate:

Reasoning ability: The ability to solve complex problems, think from first principles, structure ideas sharply, resist biases, and identify critical details.
Drive: Ambition, initiative, effort, and tenacity. A deep sense of responsibility and a commitment to high standards.
Team spirit: Generosity, support for the best ideas, willingness to help the team, and demonstration of reliability, honesty, and transparency.

What Bending Spoons Offers

Incredibly talented, entrepreneurial teams: Work in small, results-oriented, autonomous teams alongside some of the brightest people in your field.
An exceptional opportunity for growth: Bending Spoons prioritizes placing individuals of outstanding potential in ideal positions to thrive.
Competitive pay and access to equity in the company: For individuals at the start of their career, Bending Spoons typically offers a competitive annual salary. If offered a permanent contract, employees may receive pay in company equity at a discounted price.

Commitment & Location

This is a full-time internship opportunity based in London (UK) or remote in selected countries. Spending the first few months working from the Milan office is recommended to quickly absorb the company culture and build trust with new teammates, with generous travel and accommodation assistance provided.

Selection Process

The screening process prioritizes verifiable signals of excellence. Successful candidates will complete one or more challenging, multi-hour tests. Bending Spoons sets a high bar and extends an offer only when confident in finding the right candidate.

First Commit: A Week-Long Software Engineering Challenge in Milan

First Commit is an ultimate challenge for rising stars in software engineering. Held at the Bending Spoons HQ in Milan, participants spend a week learning from experienced "Spooners" and competing with other top-class software engineers to win up to €5,000. Participants may also be considered for an internship opportunity at Bending Spoons. The next event will be held on July 7-11, 2025.

About the Challenge

Participants compete in a three-day software engineering challenge where they receive a brief with the requirements for a mobile or web application and build it from scratch. They explore new technologies on backend and frontend, integrate their code into an existing repository, and review and debug code written by others. The most complete, reliable, and well-written solution wins €5,000.

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Prizes and Benefits

Prove your skills: Put your skills to the test on a secret challenge designed by Bending Spoons.
Expand your network: Meet other incredibly talented software engineers from all over Europe, learn from their live feedback, and share your passion with like-minded peers.
Compete for big prizes: A total prize pool of €10,000 gross, with the top-ranking participant taking home €5,000.
All expenses paid: Travel, accommodation, food, drinks, activities-everything is covered by Bending Spoons.
Meet Bending Spoons: Gain an insider's view of life at one of Europe’s leading tech companies.

Eligibility

The event is open to anyone over the age of 18 who is currently enrolled in a university degree program in computer science, software engineering, or a related field, or who has completed such a degree within the past year, in Europe.

Schedule

Monday, July 7: Welcome dinner in Milan.
Tuesday, July 8: Kickoff with the challenge presentation, followed by the first day of work.
Wednesday and Thursday, July 9, 10: Dive into the challenge while soaking in the Bending Spoons vibe: Enjoy lunch with Spooners, discuss the challenge with your mentor, and take a break for a ping-pong or foosball game.
Friday July 11: Submit your challenge in the morning, enjoy lunch, and explore Milan together. Then gear up for the final feedback session, the awards ceremony, and a closing dinner.

Making the Right Choice: M&A Internship vs. Credit Analyst Role

When deciding between an M&A internship at Bending Spoons and a credit analyst role at another company, consider your long-term career goals. If your ultimate goal is to secure a graduate role in investment banking or equity research, the M&A internship at Bending Spoons might be the stronger choice due to its comprehensive deal exposure and longer duration.

How to Increase Your Chances of Success

Highlight Transferable Skills: When applying for finance roles, emphasize the transferable skills and deal exposure gained during the M&A internship.
Prepare for a Demanding Environment: Bending Spoons is known for its high standards, which drive extraordinary learning and career growth but require significant commitment.
Don't Self-Reject: If you like the role and believe you could excel, don’t self-reject based on perceived shortcomings. The selection process prioritizes verifiable signals of excellence.
Wait Before Reapplying: If you’ve applied before and didn't receive an offer, wait at least one year before reapplying.

Bending Spoons: A Promising Ecosystem

Bending Spoons is building a fantastic brand and a great M&A team. The opportunity at Bending Spoons offers a good chance to get into a flourishing ecosystem/industry with competitive pay. While a credit gig might sound like a safe and solid bet, taking the extra risk while still in university could be worth it.

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