Visual communications giant Canva has announced the strategic acquisitions of UK-based motion design firm Cavalry and US-based MangoAI. This dual move significantly enhances the platform's professional creative suite while simultaneously deepening its artificial intelligence and marketing capabilities. The expansion also includes the appointment of a new Chief Algorithms Officer, signaling a major investment in data-driven content creation.
Expanding the Professional Creative Ecosystem
The acquisition of Cavalry brings a sophisticated 2D animation and motion graphics tool into the Canva ecosystem. This UK-based platform is highly regarded by professional designers for its power and flexibility in modern production workflows. Its integration addresses a crucial gap in Canva's offerings, completing its suite for professional-grade creative work.
By adding Cavalry alongside the recently acquired Affinity suite, Canva now offers a complete toolkit for photo, vector, layout, and motion editing. This creates what the company calls a "full-stack Creative OS" aimed at consolidating fragmented workflows for design professionals. The goal is to make advanced animation more powerful and accessible to a new generation of creators.
Deepening AI and Marketing Intelligence
Simultaneously, Canva has acquired MangoAI, a ten-month-old San Francisco startup that was operating in stealth mode. The company specializes in using machine learning and reinforcement learning to connect creative content directly with performance metrics. This technology is designed to automatically improve marketing assets like video ads based on real-world results.
With this acquisition, Canva welcomes key talent, appointing MangoAI co-founder Nirmal Govind as its first Chief Algorithms Officer. Govind, a former Vice President of Data Science at Netflix, will oversee personalization and algorithmic experiences across the platform. Co-founder Vinith Misra will also join as Reinforcement Learning Lead in Canva’s Research Lab.
According to Canva COO Cliff Obrecht, MangoAI's technology will power the next evolution of its AI-driven marketing products. The integration aims to create a continuous feedback loop where performance data informs and adapts creative content in real time. This strengthens Canva's ability to help teams focus on ideas that deliver measurable business impact.
Strategic Growth and Market Position
These latest acquisitions are part of an aggressive expansion strategy, marking the fifth company Canva has bought in the last two years. This pattern follows the purchases of Affinity, Leonardo, and MagicBrief, underscoring a deliberate push beyond its core design tool. The company is clearly focused on building a comprehensive platform for enterprise and professional markets.
This strategic growth is backed by strong financial performance, with Canva recently surpassing $4 billion in annualized revenue. The platform boasts 265 million monthly active users and a valuation reported to be around $65 billion. These moves further solidify its market dominance as it reportedly considers a public listing in the United States.
The acquisitions of Cavalry and MangoAI represent a pivotal step in Canva's evolution from a user-friendly design tool to an all-encompassing visual communications platform. By integrating professional-grade motion design and advanced AI-driven marketing intelligence, the company is solidifying its appeal to the entire creative spectrum. This dual investment positions Canva to redefine the future of digital creation for professionals and enterprises alike.