We’re all familiar with Canva, the app that blew up during the pandemic as more and more of us needed to find ways to keep communication interesting. Well, that app’s parent company, Canva, is looking to take on Adobe with its latest acquisition – Affinity. Affinity, formerly known as Serif, makes one of the most popular alternatives to Adobe’s Creative Suite and the best part? Affinity’s offerings are available for a one-time fee. The acquisition sees Canva acquiring Affinity for a reported USD$380 million.
Canva’s acquisition of Affinity gives it access to Affinity’s suite of design apps including Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, and Affinity Publisher. All of these apps received their major v2 updates recently. That said, Affinity’s suite of apps expands on Canva’s market. Where the company was looking at targeting the majority of users who do not have design know-how with its own app, it can now cater to design professionals. As of reporting, Canva itself has over 100 million active users while Affinity brings a user base of over 3 million. The suite of apps also allows it to compete with the likes of Adobe which is arguably the largest design software company in the world.
For now, it has been indicated that the 90 people in Affinity will be joining Canva. Canva and Affinity have yet to announce any plans on how the apps will be integrated moving forward. As of now, it seems like everything is more or less status quo. However, it has been indicated that there will be some integration between Canva and the Affinity suite in the near future. With this acquisition, Canva becomes one of the most complete options when it comes to design software in the market.
It’s worth noting that Canva did create some waves when it first launched back in 2013. With its initial offering, the company also spurred companies like Adobe to create a new offering like Adobe Express that takes on the platform directly. It looks like the tables have turned with other competitors.
