Australian startup Canva has recently acquired the British creative software company Affinity (formerly Serif) in a deal valued at around $380 million. Canva hopes that Affinity’s tools for photo editing, design, and publishing will help it compete with Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite, which is considered the industry standard.
Canva has confirmed the acquisition, stating that adding the Affinity suite to its portfolio will empower companies, organizations, and smaller teams to achieve their creative goals. Affinity CEO Ashley Hewson expressed excitement about starting a new chapter with Canva and reaching a larger customer base through Canva’s massive user network.
Affinity is just one of the companies that Canva has recently acquired. Over the past few years, Canva has also acquired Kaleido.ai, Pexels, and Pixabay to expand its online design and photo-related services.
Canva, known for its cloud-based design service with over 175 million users worldwide, sees Affinity’s suite of professional design software, available on multiple platforms, as a strong contender against Adobe. Affinity offers various creative apps at competitive prices compared to Adobe.
The acquisition is beneficial for Canva users as the company plans to integrate Affinity’s creative tools into its online photo editing service. Co-founder Cliff Obrecht believes this acquisition will attract users with advanced photo editing skills, including professional designers, to Canva’s platform.
Constellation Research analyst Ray Wang believes that Affinity’s software suite will enhance Canva’s competitiveness against Adobe. Canva’s target is to compete with Adobe Express, a comprehensive design, photo, and video tool for content creation. Wang also notes that the cultures of both companies align well, making the transition of the 90 Affinity employees to Canva seamless.
