Canva announced the acquisitions of Simtheory and Ortto to strengthen its investment in artificial intelligence. These strategic deals significantly enhance its Artificial Intelligence and Marketing Power across the global design platform. The company purchased both entities to expand its marketing infrastructure and AI capabilities. This move helps Canva evolve from a design tool into a comprehensive work system. Both companies were founded by brothers Chris and Mike Sharkey.
These two companies bring complementary skills to millions of customers. Ortto has a specialty in building customer data platforms and multi-channel marketing automation. Meanwhile, Simtheory focuses on agentic AI and multi-model collaboration systems. Consequently, Canva creators will soon access tools that bridge ideation and campaign delivery. The Sharkey brothers will now join Canva in leadership roles.
Powering the Marketing Lifecycle
The acquisition marks a major milestone for the global visual communication giant. It demonstrates a commitment to technical innovation and seamless work management. Furthermore, these tools will help teams collaborate on complex tasks and apps. Canva continues to build its “Canva Grow” suite for professional marketing teams.
Cliff Obrecht, Co-Founder and COO at Canva, shared his vision for the platform.
“They’ve built exceptional teams and technology, and this acquisition marks an important step toward evolving Canva from a design tool into the system where work happens end-to-end, whether it’s a quick idea or a full campaign.”
The announcement comes ahead of the Canva Create event on April 16. The company currently serves more than 265 million monthly active users worldwide. These new additions will accelerate the launch of sophisticated agentic AI systems. Users can expect a reimagined experience that handles the entire content lifecycle.
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News Source: Businesswire.com
