Canva acquires Affinity to fill the Adobe-sized holes in its design suite

Official figures for the deal haven’t been revealed, however Bloomberg experiences that it’s valued at “a number of hundred million [British] kilos.” However, the acquisition is smart because the Australian-based firm tries to draw extra artistic professionals. As of January this 12 months, Canva’s design platform attracted round 170 million month-to-month international customers. That’s a lot of people that in all probability aren’t utilizing equal Adobe software program like Categorical, however in contrast to Adobe, Canva doesn’t have its personal design functions that focus on artistic professionals like illustrators, photographers, and video editors. 

“Whereas our final decade at Canva has targeted closely on the 99 % of data staff with out design coaching, really empowering the world to design contains empowering skilled designers too,” Canva mentioned in a press launch saying the deal. “By becoming a member of forces with Affinity, we’re excited to unlock the total spectrum of designers at each degree and stage of the design journey.”

Affinity apps are utilized by over three million international customers in keeping with Canva— that’s a fraction of Adobe’s person base, however Affinity shouldn’t be underestimated right here. The choice to make its Affinity functions a one-time-purchase with no ongoing subscription charges has earned it a loyal fanbase, particularly with creatives who’re actively in search of options to Adobe’s subscription-based design ecosystem.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Canva co-founder Cameron Adams mentioned that Affinity functions will stay separate from Canva’s platform, however that some small integrations needs to be anticipated over time. “Our product groups have already began chatting and now we have some quick plans for light-weight integration, however we predict the merchandise themselves will at all times be separate,” mentioned Adams.

With Affinity and its 90 UK-based staff now on board, Canva has extra alternatives to compete with Adobe throughout the broader artistic software program market. And given how engaging Canva’s simplicity-focused platform already is to creatives, it may need an actual probability of luring away professionals who’re uninterested in filling Adobe’s pockets.