Canva acquired Leonardo.ai to further advance its AI technology. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but this strategic move will greatly contribute to Canva’s future AI projects.
What will Leonardo.ai add to Canva?
Canva’s co-founder and chief product officer Cameron Adams stated that this acquisition was made with a mix of cash and stock. 120 employees of Leonardo.ai, including the executive team, will join Canva. Leonardo.ai will continue to operate as an independent unit supported by Canva’s resources and will continue to offer its existing tools and solutions. This acquisition aims to help Leonardo.ai develop its platform and deepen user growth.
Leonardo.ai was founded in Sydney, Australia in 2022 and initially focused on creating video game assets. However, over time, they have expanded their platform to address scenarios such as creating and training AI models for image creation in industries as diverse as fashion, advertising, and architecture.
Leonardo.ai stands out from other generative AI art platforms with the level of control it gives its users. For example, Leonardo.ai’s Live Canvas feature allows users to enter a text prompt and then quickly sketch out how they want the final result to look.
Leonardo.ai’s existing tools and solutions offer collaboration tools and private cloud services for video creators. The company has more than 19 million registered users and has created more than a billion images with its tools. Leonardo.ai also provides API access, allowing customers to build their own technology infrastructure on Leonardo.ai’s platform.
Canva’s acquisition of Leonardo.ai will add a significant boost to the company’s Magic Studio generative AI suite, which Cameron Adams said they plan to integrate into Magic Studio. This could include making existing Magic Studio tools more powerful or introducing new generative AI capabilities powered by Leonardo’s models directly into Canva.
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Canva has been investing in generative AI tools since December 2022, accelerating its development efforts through both internal projects and acquisitions. This move comes as Canva takes significant steps in the AI space following its acquisition of Kaleido in 2021. Kaleido laid the groundwork for Canva’s more recent generative AI efforts.
Leonardo.ai is Canva’s second acquisition of the year and eighth overall. Canva has previously acquired companies such as Affinity, Zeetings, Pixabay, Pexels, and Smartmockups. Founded in 2012, Canva is valued at $26 billion and has more than 180 million monthly users worldwide. Cameron Adams said the acquisition will further strengthen Canva’s AI-driven workflow and open up new possibilities for its users.
