Canva deepens European expansion by snapping up Affinity – it’s biggest acquisition to date
The Australian tech darling is tapping into Europe’s creative software ecosystem, making its seventh and biggest acquisition in the region ahead of a potential IPO in the US.
Canva has made its biggest acquisition, taking over UK-based Affinity – a graphic design software firm focused on professionals – as the Australian tech darling quietly deepens its expansion in Europe.
Canva – which is valued at almost $40bn and has been mulling a potential US listing – said the acquisition of Affinity aimed to bridge the gap between professional and non-professional graphic design products, therefore getting its software in the hands of more people.
Cameron Adams, Canva co-founder and chief product designer, said during the past decade the company had focused heavily on creating products for people without design training. This has led to the company’s name becoming a verb akin to Google in many workplaces when a graphic is commissioned.
But Mr Adams said there was still a gap in the market, which the Affinity acquisition would help fill.
“After observing what’s going on inside lots of teams, there’s lots of occasions where professional designers are working with non-designers,” he said.
“Professional designers will start off by creating all the assets for the campaign, upload those into Canva. They’ll then unleash that on the rest of the team and the team can customise it for what they need.
“But that hand off between the two different types of users is still really filled with friction, and we see a massive opportunity to bridge those two areas together.”
While Canva has been focused on the US – shifting its showcase this year from Australia to Los Angeles – it has been steadily expanding its European operations, making seven acquisitions in the region to date.
Canva hasn’t disclosed the terms of the Affinity deal, but Mr Adams said it was the company’s biggest acquisition “in terms of price and headcount”. He said Affinity had almost 100 staff, which would remain based in England’s Midlands.
“We’re very happy for them to stay there and continue to grow the team there and continue to build an amazing product. We also have a large team in London, which is where our European head office is, so we think those two different geographies can work quite well.
“The Nottingham team can come down to London every now and then. We can share knowledge and send our London team up to Nottingham, and they’ll be able to grow together.
“It continues our story of having quite a few European acquisitions. We’ve done actually seven in Europe, so it’s really a hotbed of talent there. And we can’t wait to see what affinity adds to the mix.”
Mr Adams said acquisitions from Europe’s start-up ecosystem have elevated Canva’s technology. Other deals include Pexels and Pixabay in 2019, Kaleido, Smartmockups and SlidesCarnival in 2021 and Flourish in 2022. The string of deals prompted Canva to open their first European headquarters in London in 2023.
Affinity launched in 1987, developing creative software for Windows. It now has a suite of apps that also work across Mac and iPad – a move the company said meant “throwing away all the old code and starting the Affinity range from scratch”.
“It was a big gamble and turned into a massive project, taking the best part of five years from writing the first line of code to releasing Affinity Designer, our first Affinity app, in October 2014,” Affinity said.
Affinity’s says its software is used by more than three million creative professionals compared with Canva’s 175 million users.
Canva co-founder and chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht said visual communication is now ubiquitous in workplaces and investing in business-to-business products was “core to the future of our business”.
“From sales and marketing, to brand and creative teams, the need to create effective and engaging visual content is on the rise. The Affinity team comes with an incredible calibre of talent and technology, and we’re delighted to welcome them to Canva as we enter our next phase together,” he said.
Ashley Hewson, chief executive of Affinity developer Serif, said the company shared a similar philosophy to Canva.
“Since the inception of Affinity, our mission has been to empower creatives with tools that unleash their full potential, fostering a community where innovation and artistry flourish,” Mr Hewson said.
“We’ve worked tirelessly to challenge the status quo, delivering professional-grade creative software that is both accessible and affordable. Canva’s commitment to empowering everyone to create aligns perfectly with those values.
“We couldn’t be more excited about becoming part of the Canva family and can’t wait to see what we will achieve together.”
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