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Canva adds Leonardo.AI to its growing creative empire
In a move that will change the way we think about visual communication and AI-powered design, Canva has announced that it has acquired Leonardo.AI, a leading generative AI content and research startup. The acquisition, revealed on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, is Canva’s eighth acquisition to date and second this year, following the purchase of UK design company Affinity in March and its partnership with Artlist this month.
Canva, the Australian visual design platform with over 190 million monthly active users, sees this acquisition as a big step in its mission to build a world-class suite of visual AI tools. Canva co-founder and chief product officer Cameron Adams is excited about the merger.
He said, “This field is constantly evolving, and Leonardo’s technical leadership and community impact can’t be overstated. Bringing our worlds together will accelerate each of our teams’ work, taking us from strength to strength, and we can’t wait to get started.”
Image: Canva / Leonardio.ai
Founded in late 2022, Leonardo.AI has quickly become one of Australia’s fastest-growing startups. With over 19 million users, the platform has been used to create over a billion images in just 18 months. Its technology is used in all kinds of industries, including advertising, marketing, design, entertainment, architecture, fashion, e-commerce, and education.
The financial details of the deal haven’t been made public yet, but Adams told TechCrunch that it’s a combination of cash and stock. All 120 Leonardo.AI employees, including the exec team, will be joining Canva as part of the acquisition.
JJ Fiasson, the founder and CEO of Leonardo.AI, was pretty excited about the acquisition: “Today marks the start of a new chapter which will accelerate the pace we innovate at Leonardo.Ai,” said JJ Fiasson, Founder and CEO, Leonardo.AI. “Joining the Canva family means we can invest more deeply in scaling our AI research efforts globally, and move even faster to deliver new features and functionality to creatives worldwide.”
We’re expecting the integration of Leonardo.AI’s technology to enhance Canva’s Magic Studio, which is the company’s suite of AI tools that has been used more than 7 billion times since its launch in 2023. Canva plans to use Leonardo.AI’s cutting-edge foundational model, Phoenix, which gives users more control in generative AI, including better prompt adherence and the ability to generate production-ready assets in one shot.
Image: Leonardo.ai
This acquisition comes at a time when there’s a huge demand for effective and efficient visual communication. The latest Visual Economy Report from Canva shows that AI is becoming more and more important for boosting productivity and creativity at work. From marketing teams scaling global campaigns to designers creating initial drafts and storyboards, generative AI is changing the way work gets done.
While Canva has been investing in generative AI tools since December 2022, starting with the copywriting assistant Magic Write, this acquisition really speeds things up. It also makes Canva a stronger competitor to Adobe, which has faced some recent questions about its AI training practices.
As part of the deal, Leonardo.AI will keep doing its own thing, focusing on coming up with new ideas, doing research, and developing new products. Now it has Canva’s support. This is similar to how Canva handled its Affinity acquisition earlier this year.
Image: Leonardo.ai
The acquisition of Leonardo.AI not only gives Canva’s AI offerings a boost but also strengthens its research and development capabilities. As Canva keeps investing in long-term innovation, the addition of Leonardo.AI’s team of top researchers, engineers, and designers will play a big part in shaping the future of visual communication and AI-powered design.
What sets Leonardo.AI apart from other generative AI art platforms is the level of control it gives users. For instance, its Live Canvas feature lets users enter a text prompt and then quickly sketch what they want the end result to look like. As the user sketches, Leonardo.AI creates a realistic image based on both the text and the sketch in real-time.
Canva’s acquisition of Leonardo.AI is part of a larger plan to improve its AI abilities. The company has already bought other AI-focused businesses, including Kaleido in February 2021, which specializes in drag-and-drop background removal for images and video.
