Canva Inc., Australia's premier startup valued at $26 billion, has completed its largest acquisition to date by acquiring the Affinity suite of creative software for approximately $886 million. This strategic move aims to fortify Canva's competitive stance against industry giant Adobe Inc. The acquisition encompasses Nottingham, UK-based Serif, the team behind Affinity's renowned portfolio of photo-editing, publishing, and illustration software. Canva's COO, Cliff Obrecht, emphasized the significance of this deal, citing Affinity's popularity among Mac users and its alignment with Canva's suite of AI-powered tools.
Established a decade ago, Canva has emerged as a robust contender to Adobe, amassing over 175 million users and exceeding $2.1 billion in annualized revenue. While Adobe has been integrating AI features into its products, its shares faced a decline of over 15% in 2024, partly attributed to the failure of its $20 billion deal to acquire Figma in December 2023. Canva's acquisition spree, which includes seven European companies, demonstrates its commitment to global expansion. With the recent Affinity acquisition, Canva seeks to bolster its presence in the creative software market, catering to both professionals and casual users with user-friendly design tools.
