Canva has announced the acquisition of Affinity, a creative software suite for professional photo editing, illustration, graphic design, and page layout in a bid to bolster its visual communication tools offering.
Cliff Obrecht, Canva’s co-founder and COO, said investing in strategies that enhances the company’s B2B offering was imperative to the company’s future.
“Visual communication is now ubiquitous in the workplace,” said Obrecht.
“From sales and marketing, to brand and creative teams, the need to create effective and engaging visual content is on the rise.
The decision follows Canva’s substantial growth last year, during which it reported 60 million people joined the platform. The Australian-led graphic design start-up, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, has amassed a total user base exceeding 175 million across 190 countries.
Its community has collectively produced over 20 billion designs – the equivalent of 280 designs every second, 16,000 every minute, or 1 million each hour.
Fuelling its user expansion, Canva introduced a range of new products in 2023, including its AI offering, the Magic Studio tool, which garnered significant attention, being utilised over 4 billion times and earning recognition from Apple with second place for AI app of the year.
See also: Canva reports biggest year of growth adding 60 million users to hit 170 million
The integration of Affinity’s professional design software, currently adopted by 3 million users worldwide, into Canva’s platform aims to cater to the full gamut of designers across various stages of the design process, from novice to professional.
“The Affinity team comes with an incredible caliber of talent and technology and we’re delighted to welcome them to Canva as we enter our next phase together.”
Ashley Hewson, CEO of Affinity, added that the founding mission of Affinity was to create a software that empowers creatives with the tools and community they needed to unleash their potential.
“We’ve worked tirelessly to challenge the status quo, delivering professional-grade creative software that is both accessible and affordable,” said Hewson.
“Canva’s commitment to empowering everyone to create aligns perfectly with those values. We couldn’t be more excited about becoming part of the Canva family and can’t wait to see what we will achieve together.”
See also: Affinity completes 18-month global rebrand for Worley, focusing on sustainability
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Top Image: Ash Hewson (Affinity CEO) and Duncan Clark (Canva head of Europe)