Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio got a 15x return on a tech company most Americans have never heard of. He thinks his own industry is broken
Tom Colicchio achieved a roughly 15x return on an early investment in Bending Spoons, a Milan-based tech company that acquires and restructures underperforming apps. Despite this financial success, Colicchio expresses deep concern about the declining state of the restaurant industry, citing rising costs and reduced creativity. He attributes the challenges to economic pressures, changing work patterns, and a broader cultural shift toward risk aversion in creative fields.
- ▪Tom Colicchio earned a 15x return on his early investment in Bending Spoons, a European tech decacorn that restructures consumer apps.
- ▪Bending Spoons has acquired brands like Evernote, WeTransfer, and Vimeo, applying aggressive cost-cutting and price increases to boost profitability.
- ▪Colicchio described the current restaurant environment as the most difficult in his 25-year career, with rising food costs, hybrid work reducing foot traffic, and a decline in culinary innovation.
- ▪Lunch service at his flagship restaurant Craft has become nearly impossible to fill due to fewer office workers in Manhattan.
- ▪He believes a cultural shift toward risk aversion, compounded by AI anxiety and tariff disruptions, is affecting creativity across industries.
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| Canonical URL | https://fortune.com/2026/05/16/tom-colicchio-top-chef-bending-spoons-venture-capital-15-times-return/ |
| Publication time | Sat, 16 May 2026 11:30:00 +0000 |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
About a decade ago, Tom Colicchio started writing checks. Not large ones at first, and not on his own thesis—he is the first to say he doesn’t have the wherewithal to evaluate a company. His method was to find people who did, watch what they were putting in, and ride alongside if the conviction looked real.Recommended Video That is how a friend told him about Bending Spoons. The Milan-based technology conglomerate closed a $710 million equity round in October 2025 at an $11 billion pre-money valuation, making it one of a handful of European tech decacorns. Colicchio got in early, exited around that round, and walked away with what he says was roughly a 15x return.
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