Hollywood star, tech execs invest in Italian start-up 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 Bending Spoons has raised more than $340 million from investors including Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds and Kerry Trainor, the former CEO of video streaming platform Vimeo (VMEO.O), it said on Tuesday.

Bending Spoons, whose apps include popular video editing tool Splice and Remini, an image editor based on artificial intelligence technology, said the money could be used for acquisitions.

A source close to the company said former Google (GOOGL.O) Executive Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt was among the investors.

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

Since launching in 2013, Bending Spoons has registered more than 500 million downloads and has 90 million monthly active users, according to its website.

In 2020, it also developed the Immuni app, which was used to trace COVID-19 infections in Italy.

(This story corrects currency in first paragraph to dollars from euros)

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

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