The design software giant Canva is making strategic acquisitions to bolster its capabilities and fend off escalating competition, particularly from industry stalwart Adobe, which has seen its stock price falter significantly this year. Amidst a broader market downturn for software stocks, fueled by investor concerns over the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence, Canva has moved to acquire two startups: Cavalry, a specialist in 2D animation, and MangoAI, a developer of AI-powered short video creation technology.
These acquisitions signal Canva’s proactive approach to evolving market dynamics. Cavalry, a compact four-person team, offers subscription-based software for creating sophisticated 2D animations. MangoAI, operating in stealth mode, focuses on generating short-form video content ideally suited for advertising campaigns. While the financial terms of these deals have not been disclosed, their strategic importance is clear.
Cameron Adams, Canva’s co-founder and chief product officer, highlighted customer demand for enhanced motion graphics capabilities. Cavalry has already garnered significant attention within the design community as a compelling alternative to Adobe’s After Effects for specific tasks, evidenced by its adoption for internal projects at Canva and positive mentions on social media platforms. Canva intends to maintain Cavalry as a standalone product while integrating its technology into the core Canva platform and the Affinity suite, a professional design application acquired by Canva in 2024 and made available for free in October. Cavalry’s existing client base includes prominent tech firms such as Amazon, ByteDance, Google, and OpenAI.
The integration of MangoAI’s technology is slated for Canva Grow, the company’s enterprise-level advertisement generator priced at $250 per user annually. MangoAI’s core strength lies in its ability to analyze video performance metrics and provide actionable recommendations, aiming to optimize campaign effectiveness. Adams elaborated on the intricate process of video creation, emphasizing the need for efficient content repurposing, seamless integration of elements from different campaigns, and the strategic placement of compelling calls to action. “Analyzing all of that across your campaigns is the full vision of Canva Grow, and Mango will help enable that,” Adams stated, underscoring the role MangoAI will play in realizing this vision.
Canva reported robust financial performance, closing 2025 with over $4 billion in annualized revenue, representing a 36% year-over-year increase. This growth contrasts with Adobe’s revenue of $6.2 billion for its November quarter, a 10% increase. While Adobe’s market capitalization stood at $101 billion, Canva achieved a valuation of $42 billion in a secondary share sale in August, prior to the recent market turbulence affecting software equities.
Adams acknowledged the growing use of generative AI in content creation, such as slide presentations and social media posts. However, he stressed that AI currently excels at reaching approximately 80% of the desired outcome. The critical remaining 20%, which ensures brand integrity, effective audience engagement, and goal achievement, remains a complex challenge that human oversight and creative refinement are essential to address.
With a workforce exceeding 5,000 employees, Canva is not actively pursuing new funding rounds. Adams affirmed the company’s sustained growth in both revenue and user acquisition, coupled with continuous product enhancement driven by AI integration.
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