Canva acquires Affinity, takes aim at Adobe's design dominance
Sunday, March 31, 2024 at 6:31PM 
Affinity Designer 2 (Image: Affinity)
Canva, the popular web-based design platform, made a strategic move to challenge Adobe's stronghold on the design software market by acquiring the well-regarded Affinity suite. Announced in March 2024, the deal brings Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher—powerful design applications for desktop and iPad—under Canva's umbrella. These applications offer functionalities similar to Adobe's industry-standard Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, respectively.
While financial details remain undisclosed, Bloomberg estimates the acquisition to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds. This move strengthens Canva's position, particularly in attracting professional designers. While boasting 170 million monthly users, many likely aren't utilizing Adobe's professional offerings. However, Canva previously lacked design applications specifically catering to creative professionals like photographers, illustrators, and video editors.