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Reading: Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation
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B&T > Technology > Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation
Technology

Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation

Staff Writers
Published on: 27th March 2024 at 8:53 AM
Edited by Staff Writers
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Canva has announced the acquisition of Affinity, the creative software suite for professional photo editing, illustration, graphic design and page layout.

The acquisition significantly bolsters Canva’s vision to build the world’s most comprehensive suite of visual communication tools. While the last decade has seen rapid growth for Canva amongst the 99% of knowledge workers without design training, the integration of Affinity’s professional design software now unlocks the full spectrum of designers at every level and stage of the design journey.

As visual communication becomes the status quo in teams and organisations around the world, the acquisition 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.

“Visual communication is now ubiquitous in the workplace, and investing in strategies that enhance our B2B offerings is core to the future of our business,” said Canva co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht. “From sales and marketing to brand and creative teams, the need to create effective and engaging visual content is on the rise. 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”.

Empowering professional designers

Affinity stemmed from a vision to empower designers to produce high-quality content in an effective and affordable way. In 10 years, the Affinity suite of creative products has become beloved and renowned for delivering powerful experiences for professional designers. This includes offering extremely fast and highly responsive tools that deliver on all the photo and vector editing tasks required by professionals.

Today, more than 3 million users around the world trust Affinity to create everything from complex multi-layered graphics to detailed technical diagrams, art and illustration, logos, mockups, documents, magazines and much more.

Designed for the latest hardware and packed with features to simplify real-life professional workflows, Affinity’s all-inclusive photo editing, graphic design, and desktop publishing products serve as a powerful, cost-effective, and subscription-free solution for photographers and designers requiring versatility and precision.

Their core products – Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher – have been lauded for their lightning-fast performance and seamless cross-platform compatibility across macOS, Windows and iPadOS. To date, Affinity has won a number of industry awards, including an Apple Design Award, Apple App of the Year for Mac and iPad and the Microsoft Application Developer of the Year.

Canva growth surge continues

Now entering its second decade, Canva has pioneered the model for simple and effective design and is now used by more than 175 million people across 190 countries and in more than 100 languages. As visual communication becomes imperative for every kind of industry and organisation, the last few years have seen Canva make significant strides in this arena, bolstered by the introduction of Canva’s Visual Suite in September 2022.

Since then, the company has added more than 90 million new users, experiencing nine years’ worth of growth in just 18 months. The acquisition of Affinity will expand Canva’s offering of design tools into the professional design market.

Canva will continue to invest in the Affinity suite to ensure it not only meets the needs of professional designers, but also enhances their experiences and empowers them to do their best work. Together, Canva and Affinity will be a powerhouse combination built to supercharge the goals of every type of designer.

“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,” said Ashley Hewson, CEO of Affinity. “We’ve worked tirelessly to challenge the status quo, delivering professional-grade creative software that is both accessible and affordable. 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”.

Europe Based Acquisitions Continue To Fuel Canva’s Product Strategy

Acquisitions from Europe’s startup ecosystem have elevated Canva’s technology and continue to play an important role in expanding the company’s physical presence in the region. Over the years, Canva has found high caliber talent and compatible technology in Europe with a number of acquisitions that have become key to the company’s product strategy. Affinity marks Canva’s latest Europe-based acquisition, joining Flourish (2022), Kaleido (2021), Smartmockups (2021), Pexels (2019) and Pixabay (2019). Canva opened its first European HQ in 2023, based in London.

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TAGGED: affinity, canva
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Aimee Edwards
By Aimee Edwards
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Aimee Edwards is a journalist at B&T, reporting across media, advertising, and the broader cultural forces shaping both. Her reporting covers the worlds of sport, politics, and entertainment, with a particular focus on how marketing intersects with cultural influence and social impact. Aimee is also a self-published author with a passion for storytelling around mental health, DE&I, sport, and the environment. Prior to joining B&T, she worked as a media researcher, leading projects on media trends and gender representation—most notably a deep dive into the visibility of female voices in sports media. 

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