In a strategic push to expand its capabilities, Canva has acquired Simtheory and Ortto as part of its broader effort to deepen its presence in artificial intelligence and marketing infrastructure. The company did not disclose the financial details of these deals.
The acquisitions signal Canva’s ambition to evolve beyond a design-focused tool into a full-scale platform where teams can manage their entire workflow. This includes everything from ideation to execution and performance tracking, supported by advanced AI and integrated systems.
As part of the transition, Simtheory and Ortto founders, Chris and Mike Sharkey, will take on leadership roles within Canva. They will contribute across AI and marketing technology divisions. The move is expected to strengthen Canva’s capabilities in agentic AI, data infrastructure, marketing automation, and customer engagement, helping expand its end-to-end workflow solutions.
Simtheory brings technology that allows teams to build AI-powered assistants capable of performing real tasks across multiple tools. Ortto, on the other hand, offers a combined customer data platform and marketing automation system. This enables teams to design and execute campaigns across different channels within a single platform. Their integration is expected to enhance Canva’s overall service offerings.
Canva co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht said the acquisitions would accelerate their shift from a design platform with AI tools to an AI platform with design and productivity tools at its core. He added that Ortto would strengthen Canva Grow, enabling it to support the full marketing and content lifecycle, from planning and creation to publishing and optimization across channels.
These deals follow a series of recent acquisitions by Canva. Around 2 weeks ago, the company acquired digital outdoor advertising start-up Doohly. About 6 weeks ago, it purchased animation firm Cavalry and ad performance platform MangoAI. Earlier, in January 2025, Canva acquired marketing intelligence company MagicBrief.
The company closed 2025 with $4 billion in annualized revenue and over 265 million users, including 31 million paying customers.
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