Canva acquires startups working on animation and marketing

Canva, the renowned creative platform, has announced significant strategic moves with the acquisition of two innovative startups: Cavalry, specializing in animation, and Mango AI, focused on enhancing advertising performance. Cavalry, based in the UK, is recognized for its expertise in 2D motion animation across various sectors, including advertising, marketing, gaming, and generative art. Canva aims to integrate Cavalry’s advanced tools into its existing professional editing suite, Affinity, which it acquired in 2024. Following a major redesign last year, Affinity has become a free resource for users and has seen over five million downloads. The addition of motion editing capabilities through Cavalry will enhance Affinity's offerings, creating a comprehensive suite for professionals. In a blog post, Canva emphasized, "By bringing Cavalry alongside Affinity, we’re closing that [motion editing] gap and unlocking a complete professional suite spanning photo, vector, layout, and now motion editing." This integration is set to form a robust Creative OS that meets the diverse needs of professional creators. In addition to Cavalry, Canva has brought in Mango AI, a stealth startup known for developing reinforcement learning systems aimed at improving video ad performance. Founded by former Netflix executives Nirmal Govind and Vinith Misra, Mango AI's inaugural product assists clients in creating and launching ads while analyzing outcomes for better future strategies. Govind will take on the role of Canva’s first Chief Algorithms Officer, while Misra will focus on enhancing Canva’s marketing offerings. This move follows Canva’s earlier acquisition of marketing intelligence firm Magicbrief and the launch of Canva Grow, a tool designed for asset creation and performance measurement. At a recent Web Summit in Qatar, Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht highlighted the success of Canva Grow, noting its effectiveness in generating static content for Meta platforms. Looking ahead, Canva plans to expand its marketing solutions with new features in video creation and detailed performance metrics. The company concluded 2025 with an impressive $4 billion in annual revenue, serving over 265 million users, including 31 million paid subscribers.