Canva acquires Affinity to enhance its professional design toolkit

Global visual communication platform Canva has announced its acquisition of Affinity, a creative software suite favoured for professional photo editing, illustration, graphic design and page layout. This strategic acquisition bolsters Canva's existing design toolkit, adding a wealth of professional creative instruments to further empower designers at all stages of the design process.

This acquisition is a notable step in Canvas's mission to position itself as the world's leading visual communication platform. While the software has found substantial success with 99% of industry professionals who do not have formal design training, the integration of Affinity's professional design tools seeks to tap into and empower the remaining 1% of professional designers. The move aligns with Canvas' enterprise ambitions, benefiting not just individual designers but in-house and professional design teams across all types of organisations.

Cliff Obrecht, Co-Founder and COO of Canva, noted," As visual communication becomes the status quo in teams and organisations around the world, the acquisition of Affinity also accelerates Canva's enterprise ambitions, unlocking a future where professional designers can craft designs and templates with Affinity to scale across organisations with Canva. From sales and marketing to brand and creative teams, the need to create effective and engaging visual content is on the rise."

Affinity's range of products is trusted by over three million creative professionals globally. The software suite is designed to provide cost-effective, high-precision tools to suit the requirements of professional designers. Over the years, it has delivered powerful experiences that include features like exceptionally fast and highly responsive design tools, covering all photo and vector editing tasks that professionals require. Its core products, namely Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher, have received considerable acclaim for their seamless performance and cross-platform compatibility.

Canva, now entering its second decade, has a user base of more than 175 million people spread across 190 countries, with its platform available in over 100 languages. In September 2022, the release of the Canva Visual Suite spurred the addition of more than 90 million new users, experiencing growth equivalent to nine years in just an 18-month period.

With the acquisition of Affinity, Canva intends to further enhance its offering of design tools by venturing into the professional design market, aiming to simultaneously meet and enhance experiences for professional designers.

Ashley Hewson, CEO of Affinity, said, "Since the inception of Affinity, our mission has been to empower creatives with tools that unleash their full potential, fostering a community where innovation and artistry flourish. 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."

Including the expansion due to this acquisition, more specifically, an additional 90 employees, Canva's global team now numbers 4,500 people. This acquisition also comes as Canvas's seventh Europe-based purchase, representing a vital part of the company's strategy to continue spreading its physical presence across the region. In its bid to further scale operations, Canva recently reported earning over USD $2 billion in annualised revenue and gaining 175 million monthly active users.