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Evernote

Productivity software / SaaSUSA
New to Unitard
🀝 Acquired
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    2012
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $1 Billion ’12
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    2023
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation
    β€”
Current status
Acquired by Italy's Bending Spoons (announced 2022, closed early 2023); most US staff laid off, operations moved to Europe.

The rise & fall

7 moments Β· 2008–2023

The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.

2008
The elephant app launches
"Remember everything": the note-taking app becomes a cult productivity hit with millions of devotees.
Wikipedia
2012
The peak: one of the first consumer-software unicorns$1B
A ~$1B valuation puts the elephant in the unicorn club's first wave.
TechCrunch
2018
Exec exodus and layoffs
Feature bloat, buggy releases and strategy churn pile up against free rivals like Notion, OneNote and Google Keep.
TechCrunch
Jan 2023
Acquired by Bending Spoons
The deal closes at an undisclosed price β€” a long way from the days when the elephant defined the unicorn class.
TechCrunch
Feb 2023
129 laid off; operations move to Europe
The new owner cuts most US staff and shifts the company across the Atlantic.
Engadget
From the inside Β· Glassdoor reviews, 2022–23
Glassdoor reviews chart the handover: employees praised a transparent, well-liked culture before the acquisition, then described nearly all US staff being let go as operations moved to Europe β€” with those who stayed finding the new regime markedly less open and more top-down.

πŸ’¬ entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β†—; dated facts carry their source.

How it happened

Evernote was the elephant-logo note-taking app beloved by millions, and one of the first consumer-software unicorns at a ~$1B valuation around 2012. But years of feature bloat, buggy releases and strategy churn β€” against free rivals like Notion, OneNote and Google Keep β€” left it unprofitable and shrinking. After failing to raise near its old valuation, it was acquired by Italy's Bending Spoons in a deal closed in early 2023.

Source: TechCrunch / Engadget (reached ~$1B valuation ~2012; unprofitable for years; acquired by Bending Spoons, announced 2022 / closed early 2023, undisclosed price; 129 laid off Feb 2023, relocation to Europe)

Founders

  • Phil Libin
    Co-founder & CEO who led Evernote to its peak (2007-2015)
    Now Board Member at Sora UnionLinkedIn β†—
  • Stepan Pachikov
    co-founder (started the original Evernote software in 2004)
    LinkedIn β†—

Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-08-19. See our methodology.

Disclosed investors (23)

Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.

* Lead in a funding round Β· Crunchbase β†— Β· 2026-10-13 Β· Methodology Β· Leaderboard

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