Affinity CEO Ash Hewson and Canva head of Europe Duncan Clark.
The deal is reportedly worth several hundred million pounds and will give Canva access to Affinity’s various Adobe-like products.
Design platform Canva has boosted its services by acquiring Affinity, giving it access to various forms of creative software for its customers.
The platform said the deal will help it to empower “every kind of designer”, as Affinity has access to various Adobe-like products such as graphic design, photo editing and page layout software.
The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but Bloomberg claims the deal includes a mix of cash and stock and is valued at “several hundred million pounds”.
Canva has had rapid growth in recent years, being valued at $40bn in 2021 after raising $200m – this valuation was a 40-fold increase in less than four years. The company also claims that more than 175m people have used its software to date.
The deal is likely to bolster Canva as a potential challenger to Adobe’s dominance in the design sector, as it gets access to software similar to Adobe’s Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
“From our very first conversations, we knew Affinity’s vision to pioneer simple yet state-of-the-art technology was a perfect match with our own mission to empower the world to design – which includes enhancing our capabilities and offering for professional designers,” Canva said in a blogpost.
Affinity claims to have more than 3m users globally that use its software for various design applications such as logos, documents and magazines. The company’s team of 90 staff are joining Canva as part of the deal.
“In Canva, we’ve found a kindred spirit who can help us take Affinity to new levels. Their extra resources will mean we can deliver much more, much faster,” said Affinity CEO Ashley Hewson “Beyond that, we can forge new horizons for Affinity products, opening up a world of possibilities which previously would never have been achievable.”
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