Background: Miro was founded in Russia in 2011 and makes digital whiteboard software. When the pandemic hit, suddenly every remote team wanted to recreate the office whiteboard from their kitchen table... and Miro grew from 5 million users to 30 million in just two years.

What happened: By January 2022, Miro had raised $400 million at a US$17.5 billion valuation. Fast forward to today, and Miro has agreed to sell to Bending Spoons for US$1.35 billion in enterprise value. That's a 92% drop from its 2021 price tag.

What else: Miro still has 4 million paying users, 100 million total users, and around $600 million in annual recurring revenue. But software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies have taken a beating as businesses cut down on software subscriptions and the rise AI has investors rethinking what software businesses are worth.

What's the key learning?

💡 Sometimes a business doesn't get worse, but the price that the market is willing to pay for it does. Miro is profitable, has $435 million in net cash and still has a huge user base, yet it's selling for roughly 90% less than its 2021 valuation.

💡 When an entire category falls out of favour, even good businesses get repriced. Get this: according to the SaaS Capital Index, valuations peaked in August 2021 when SaaS companies were valued at an average of 16.9 times revenue. That same index fell to just 3.2 times revenue by mid 2026.

💡 Sometimes taking the exit is better than just waiting for the market to change its mind. Airtable was bought by Bending Spoons for 81% below its 2021 valuation, while Miro is now worth $1.35 billion. The market may have moved on from SaaS, but there's still someone willing to pay.