- Canva acquires Affinity to expand offerings for professional designers.
- The deal, valued at hundreds of millions, enhances Canva’s capabilities.
- Canva aims to compete with Adobe by catering to designers at all levels.
Canva takes on Adobe
Canva, the Australian graphic design platform, has made a substantial move to expand its reach in the professional design market.
The company acquired Affinity, a design software suite catered toward professionals, in a deal valued at “several hundred million pounds,” according to Canva’s COO and co-founder, Cliff Obrecht.
Previously, Canvas’s growth was primarily driven by non-professional users drawn to the platform’s user-friendly interface.
However, by integrating Affinity’s software, Canva aims to cater to designers at all levels, positioning itself as a formidable competitor to industry giants like Adobe.
A costly creativity coup
With over 3 million users worldwide, Affinity’s suite will enhance Canva’s design tool offerings, enabling the company to penetrate the professional design market more effectively.
Obrecht stated, “The Affinity team brings incredible talent and technology, and we’re delighted to welcome them as we enter our next phase together.”
This acquisition is the latest in a series of strategic moves by Canva to broaden its capabilities beyond its initial focus on basic editing tools.
In 2022, the company acquired Flourish, an online data visualization tool, and has previously acquired European companies like Smartmockups, Kaleido, Pexels, and Pixabay.
To read the original article: https://www.techinasia.com/canva-targets-professional-design-market-affinity-takeover
