- Graphic design company Canva is acquiring Leonardo.ai, an Australian AI-driven image generation startup, to enhance its competitive edge against Adobe.
- Although Canva has not disclosed the purchase price, it has confirmed that the transaction involves a combination of cash and stock.
- This acquisition will bolster Canva's investment in its AI technology stack. It plans to integrate Leonardo.ai’s technology into its AI product, which allows customers to create visuals such as presentation slides using open-source software and models from OpenAI and Google.
All 120 employees of Leonardo.ai, including the executive team, will join Canva as part of the acquisition.
According to Cameron Adams, Canva Co-founder, Leonardo.ai will continue to operate independently from Canva, focusing on accelerating innovation, research, and development, now supported by Canva's resources.
He also said the acquisition, finalised within a month, allows Canva to integrate Leonardo.ai's video and image generation models into its products.
The Generative AI in design market, valued at $454.1 million in 2023, is projected to grow to $7,879.5 million by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34% from 2024 to 2033.
Since December 2022, Canva has invested heavily in generative AI tools, beginning with its Magic Write copywriting assistant. It has intensified its focus on generative AI through internal development and strategic acquisitions.
Canva's notable acquisitions include Kaleido in February 2021, which enhanced its AI capabilities with drag-and-drop background removal services.
Leonardo.ai, Canva’s eighth acquisition and second this year, follows the $380 million acquisition of U.K. design company Affinity.
Canva's portfolio also features presentations startup Zeetings, stock photography platforms Pixabay and Pexels, and the Czech-based product mockup app Smartmockups.
Launched in 2013, the design company has raised over $560 million, most recently achieving a valuation of $26 billion. The company generates nearly $2 billion in revenue and has over 180 million monthly users globally.
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Leonardo.ai, founded in 2022 and based in Australia, has attracted over 19 million users who have created over one billion images using its open-source models, according to Canva.
The company, which raised $31 million in total from investors, has also developed video generation software and secured $31 million in funding from investors including Samsung Next.
Leonardo.ai offers collaboration tools, a private cloud for its models, and APIs that allow customers to build their technology infrastructure on its platform.
