Canva Acquires Motion Design & AI Startups
"By bringing Cavalry alongside Affinity, we're closing that gap and unlocking a complete professional suite spanning photo, vector, layout, and now motion editing."
Earlier this week, Canva announced the dual acquisition of two startups: Cavalry, a 2D animation platform, and MangoAI, specialising in AI-driven optimisation for video ads, further expanding Canva's professional creative suite and enhancing its AI capabilities.
Canva said Cavalry's technology will be integrated into Affinity, acquired back in 2024, revamped last year, and made free for all users. Affinity now offers vector, photo, and layout tools together in a single app.
"By bringing Cavalry alongside Affinity, we're closing that gap and unlocking a complete professional suite spanning photo, vector, layout, and now motion editing. Together, these tools form the foundation of a full-stack Creative OS for professional work, while preserving the depth and control professional creatives rely on," the blog post reads.
Motion designers can learn more about the impact of this move here.
As for MangoAI, it "brings deep expertise in data intelligence and reinforcement learning, with technology designed to connect creative output directly to performance". The startup was founded by Nirmal Govind, former Vice President of Data Science & Engineering at Netflix, who now serves as Canva's Chief Algorithms Officer, and Vinith Misra, who joins Canva's Research Lab as Reinforcement Learning Lead.
Canva has shown continued interest in AI-powered marketing, having bought MagicBrief, an AI-driven ad platform, last year.
The recent acquisitions position Canva as a stronger competitor to Adobe and After Effects. Read the full announcement here and subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
