Canva acquires 2 more companies that love to work with AI

Canva has announced the acquisition of two technology companies, Simtheory, an AI collaboration and agent management platform, alongside Ortto, a customer data and marketing automation company on April 9.

The acquisition comes as the design platform continues to expand its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and marketing infrastructure. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Both Simtheory and Ortto were founded by Chris and Mike Sharkey, entrepreneurs previously behind Stayz, the vacation rental platform which was acquired by Fairfax Media. The founders are set to join Canva in leadership roles across its AI and marketing technology divisions.

According to Canva, the additions would strengthen its capabilities in areas including agentic AI, data infrastructure and marketing automation. The company is seeking to build a system where teams can manage entire workflows, from early-stage ideation to campaign execution and performance measurement, within a single platform.

The latest deals form part of a series of acquisitions by Canva in recent months. Two weeks prior, the company acquired Doohly, a digital outdoor advertising start-up. Earlier, it announced the acquisition of Cavalry, an animation-focused startup, and MangoAI, an AI startup for video ads, followed by the purchase of MagicBrief, an AI-powered ad platform, in January 2025.

According to Techcrunch, Canva reported closing 2025 with an annualised revenue of $4 billion, alongside a user base exceeding 265 million people, including 31 million paid users. The company also recorded a 20 percent increase in monthly active users over the same period.