Canva Expands AI and Marketing Capabilities with Simtheory and Ortto Acquisitions — Canva Pty Ltd

Event summary

Canva acquires Simtheory, an AI collaboration and agent management platform, and Ortto, a customer data and marketing automation company.
Both acquisitions aim to expand Canva's workflow from early ideas through to campaign scaling and measurement.
Chris and Mike Sharkey, founders of Simtheory and Ortto, will join Canva in leadership roles.
Canva plans to unveil the biggest transformation in its history at Canva Create on April 16, 2026.
Ortto is trusted by more than 11,000 customers across 190 countries.

The big picture

Canva's acquisitions of Simtheory and Ortto reflect a strategic shift towards becoming an AI-first platform that supports the entire work and marketing lifecycle. This move aligns with broader industry trends of consolidating workflow tools into comprehensive, all-in-one solutions. With over 265 million monthly users, Canva is positioning itself to compete with larger tech giants in the productivity and marketing software space.

What we're watching

Integration Challenges: How Canva will integrate Simtheory and Ortto's technologies into its existing platform without disrupting current workflows.
Market Positioning: Whether these acquisitions will solidify Canva's position as an end-to-end work platform, competing with established players like Adobe and Microsoft.
Product Roadmap: The pace at which Canva can deliver on its promise of reimagining the creation process, as hinted at the upcoming Canva Create event.