Canva is leaning into acquisitions as software stocks slide, announcing Monday that it has purchased two startups — animation toolmaker Cavalry and video-focused MangoAI — as it looks to expand its motion graphics and advertising capabilities and compete more directly with Adobe.
The deals, whose terms were not disclosed, come at a turbulent moment for software companies. Shares of Adobe are down roughly 30% this year, reflecting broader investor concerns about how artificial intelligence could disrupt traditional software models. Canva, a privately held design platform that has surged in popularity with designers and businesses, is using that backdrop to broaden its product stack.
Cavalry, a four-person startup, offers subscription software for creating two-dimensional animations and has gained traction among designers as an alternative to Adobe After Effects. Canva said it will continue to operate Cavalry as a standalone product while integrating its animation technology into Canva’s core platform and Affinity, the professional design application it acquired in 2024 and made free in October.
MangoAI, which has operated in stealth mode, focuses on short-form advertising video creation and performance tracking. Canva plans to fold MangoAI’s technology into Canva Grow, its business-tier ad generator priced at $250 per person per year. According to co-founder and product chief Cameron Adams, MangoAI’s tools will help analyze video performance across campaigns and make recommendations — including cutting, repurposing and recombining content elements such as calls to action and hooks.
“There’s a whole bunch that goes into creating the right video,” Adams told CNBC, describing the broader vision for Canva Grow. “Analyzing all of that across your campaigns is the full vision of Canva Grow, and Mango will help enable that.”
The acquisitions highlight Canva’s push into motion graphics and AI-assisted advertising at a time when generative AI is reshaping creative workflows. Adams acknowledged that users are increasingly directing generative AI tools to create slide decks and social media posts. Still, he argued that AI alone is not enough.
“AI is great at getting you to 80%,” Adams said. “That last 20% where you’re confident that you can push this piece of content out and truly represent your brand … is really tricky to do.”
Financially, Canva says it ended 2025 with more than $4 billion in annualized revenue, up 36% year over year. Adobe, by comparison, reported $6.2 billion in revenue for its November quarter, up 10%. Adobe’s market cap stood at $101 billion on Monday. Canva was valued at $42 billion in a secondary share sale in August, prior to the recent sell-off in software stocks.
Canva now employs more than 5,000 people and is not currently raising a new funding round, Adams said. Despite market volatility, he added, “Our revenue growth has not stopped, our user growth has not stopped, and the quality of our product is getting better and better with the inclusion of AI.”
As investors debate whether AI will erode or reinforce software companies’ advantages, Canva is signaling that it intends to integrate motion graphics and AI-powered ad tools deeper into its platform — betting that creative professionals and businesses still need more than a prompt to ship finished work.
This analysis is based on reporting from CNBC.
Image courtesy of Unsplash.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
