Canva, the global leader in visual communication with over 190 million monthly active users, has announced its intention to acquire Leonardo.AI, one of Australia’s fastest-growing startups and a leading generative AI content and research company. This acquisition will enhance Canva’s offering and strengthen its vision of building a world-class suite of visual AI tools, marking a significant milestone in the company’s AI journey.
Leonardo.AI, founded in 2022, has enabled millions of people to bring their ideas to life through high-quality images and videos. Its technology has been used to produce over a billion images in the past 18 months, catering to various industries such as advertising, marketing, design, entertainment, architecture, fashion, e-commerce, and education.
By acquiring Leonardo.AI, Canva aims to accelerate its investment in continuous research and development in the field of AI. The acquisition will also bring Leonardo’s cutting-edge generative model to Canva’s global community, allowing users to create assets for marketing campaigns, visualize stunning interior concepts, refine mock-ups, and produce dynamic videos.
Cameron Adams, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Canva, expressed excitement about the acquisition, stating that the joining of forces between the two Australian companies will drive global advancements in AI and creativity. He emphasized the technical leadership and community impact of Leonardo, highlighting the potential for both teams to work together and strengthen each other.
Leonardo.AI’s generative AI capabilities have revolutionized the way creators transform their ideas into production-quality visual assets. With its simple prompts, users can generate images in their desired aesthetic within seconds, create videos, sketch with AI, and train custom models with their own datasets. The latest model, Phoenix, takes creator control to the next level, offering unprecedented prompt matching, coherent and precise text in images, and the ability to generate production-ready resources in one go.
JJ Fiasson, founder and CEO of Leonardo.AI, expressed enthusiasm about the new chapter that the acquisition will bring. Joining the Canva family will allow Leonardo.AI to invest more deeply in expanding its global AI research efforts and deliver new features and functionalities to creatives worldwide.
Canva’s recent report on the visual economy highlights the increasing need for effective, efficient, and compelling visual communication. As AI continues to play a significant role in enhancing productivity and creativity at work, the addition of Leonardo’s world-class technology and foundational model will further empower Canva’s mission to enable professionals to transform their ideas into instant designs, facilitating faster, more innovative, and more persuasive visual communication.
Canva will continue to invest in Leonardo’s standalone platform while integrating its technology into Canva’s Magic Studio suite of AI tools. The collaboration with Leonardo’s team of 120 top-level researchers, engineers, and designers will also enhance Canva’s research and development capabilities, ensuring long-term innovation opportunities.
This acquisition marks Canva’s eighth acquisition, following previous acquisitions of Affinity, Flourish, Kaleido, Smartmockups, Pexels, Pixabay, and Zeetings. Canva’s commitment to leveraging acquisitions has played a crucial role in improving and accelerating its technology over the past decade.
