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Canva , the high - flying Australian invention and visual communication startup , announced today it was acquiringAffinity(formerly Serif ) , a creative tools company free-base in the U.K.Bloomberg reportedthat the flock was deserving several hundred million pounds ( approximately $ 380 million U.S. ) , and the party confirm to TechCrunch that the number was accurate .
Canva has typically targeted the beginner for their products , but company co - founder Cliff Obrecht fancy the acquisition open up the door to more advanced users . “ While our last decennium at Canva has focused heavy on the 99 % of noesis workers without excogitation training , truly gift the world to plan includes empowering professional interior designer too , ” he wrotein a blog postannouncing the deal . “ By join military group with Affinity , we ’re excited to unlock the full spectrum of designers at every level and stage of the design journey . ”
With Affinity , the company can also considerably vie with Adobe , peculiarly Adobe Express , suppose Ray Wang , laminitis and principal psychoanalyst at Constellation Research . “ Canva needed products with more complex capability to go up against Adobe , ” Wang told TechCrunch . ” Their introductory offer was n’t as rich as Adobe Express . Affinity has a really easy - to - usage photo editor . The page layout is also very well-off to use , ” he said . What ’s more , he enjoin that the two company cultures are well aligned .
As you could imagine , both sides of the acquisition were “ excited ” and “ revel ” by the deal — and why would n’t they be given they just exchanged a bunch of money to connect forces ? Ina blog poston the Affinity site , CEO Ashley Hewson seek to allay customer fears about the variety . “ We know that those of you who ’ve put your religion in Affinity , some since we launched our very first Mac app , will have interrogative about what this means for the hereafter of our products , ” he write in the place .
But he believes ( along with every CEO of every acquire companionship ever ) that they can do so much more with the resource of the much larger Canva than they could ever do on their own . “ In Canva , we ’ve found a kindred spirit who can avail us take Affinity to Modern storey . Their supernumerary resources will have in mind we can give birth much more , much quicker , ” he wrote .
Ehab Bandar , founder at design consultancy Bigtable.co , see a mixed bag here for both face . “ For Affinity users , it ’s undecomposed news / bad news . I ’m optimistic that it will stay separate , but pessimistic that they ’ll have to prevail a subscription plan versus one - metre purchase , ” Bandar told TechCrunch . “ For Canva users , Canva co - laminitis Cameron Adams has indicated that there are already idea for lightweight integration into the more professional figure services of Affinity . As their initial non - designer client base matures , they will expect more powerful tools , and phylogenetic relation will help deter some Adobe convert . ”
In 2021 when valuations were flying high up , Canva reached the lofty heightsof $ 40 billion . In a recent junior-grade strain sales agreement , however , the company fell to earth some , although with a still hefty valuationof $ 26 billion .
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It for sure go forth them with more than enough value on the table to make purchases like this one . With Affinity , Canva gains 3 million users worldwide along with 90 employees who will be join the company . The deal has already formally closed .
