Canva broadens its design tool range through the acquisition of Affinity

Canva’s latest acquisition, its largest to date, includes the Affinity suite of creative design tools (Designer, Photo, Publisher), adding them to Canva’s lineup

Canva, Australia’s multi-billion-dollar design unicorn, has acquired the popular Affinity suite of creative apps. Although the exact financial details are undisclosed, a Bloomberg report indicates that the deal is valued at “several hundred million British pounds,” marking Canva’s largest acquisition yet.

This strategic acquisition brings Serif’s entire 90-person team from Nottingham, UK, the company behind the Affinity suite, into Canva. The renowned Affinity apps, known for their excellence across platforms such as Windows, Mac, and iPad, will now complement Canva’s AI-powered tools as the Australian company expands its range of online workspaces.

The Affinity creative suite consists of three robust applications that have earned a dedicated following among professionals:

Firstly, Affinity Designer is a vector graphics editor highly preferred by illustrators, designers, and game developers for crafting digital illustrations, concept art, logos, and web mock-ups. Secondly, Affinity Photo stands out as a photo editor that competes with industry leaders, providing a comprehensive toolkit for basic editing, advanced retouching, and multi-layer photo compositions. Lastly, there’s Affinity Publisher, a cutting-edge page layout software that simplifies the creation of publications such as books, magazines, marketing materials, and website mock-ups.

This acquisition represents a significant milestone for Canva, a relatively young upstart founded about a decade ago, in its efforts to challenge Adobe, the long-standing titan in the creative software industry. Although Adobe has recently incorporated AI features into its products, its stock has suffered a setback following the cancellation of its $20 billion acquisition of Figma last December.

Canva, now valued at an impressive $26 billion following its latest share sale, has been considered by investors as a strong contender for an initial public offering (IPO), although the company has not yet disclosed any specific plans in that regard.

This acquisition is a key component of Canva’s broader strategy to expand in Europe, adding to its portfolio of seven acquisitions on the continent. Previous acquisitions include visual AI startup Kaleido.ai, as well as image providers Pexels and Pixabay.