Company

Affinity

British design software company

Nottingham, OS

Investor	Rounds	Invested
No investors recorded yet. Know one?

Who bought Affinity

The transaction that ended Affinity's run as a startup, per published coverage. It closes the funding history too, where it is the ladder's last rung.

Bought by	Kind	Announced	Price	Sources
Canva	Acquisition	Apr 2024	~US$380m (~A$582m)	techtimes.com, Startup Daily (17 Apr 2026), Startup Daily (9 Apr 2026), SmartCompany, Startup Daily (25 Mar 2026), Startup Daily (2 Mar 2026), Startup Daily (24 Feb 2026), Startup Daily (1 Nov 2025), TechCrunch Venture (30 Oct 2025), Startup Daily (18 Jun 2025), Forbes Australia (18 Jun 2025), Forbes Australia (30 Jul 2024), Tech Funding News - Australia, TechCrunch Australia, Startup Daily (24 May 2024), quadrantpe.com.au, Startup Daily (26 Mar 2024), Forbes Australia (26 Mar 2024), TechCrunch Venture (26 Mar 2024), Skalata Ventures

What Affinity bought

Companies Affinity acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.

Company	Kind	Announced	Price	Sources
Affinity is not recorded as having acquired anything.

Name	Role	Sources
Ashley Hewson	CEO	Startup Daily (1 Nov 2025), Startup Daily (26 Mar 2024), TechCrunch Venture

Coverage

Stories naming Affinity. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.

2 deals

Canva's AI acquisition spree continues, with two more startups from the Stayz founders

Canva has bought AI agent platform Simtheory and marketing software Ortto from the Sharkey brothers, who also founded Stayz — its fourth and fifth purchases this year, prices undisclosed.

Startup Daily 9 Apr 2026 Ortto Simtheory Affinity Canva Cavalry Doohly Fairfax Media Leonardo AI MagicBrief Mango.AI Nine Salesforce Ventures Southern Cross Venture Partners Stayz Blackbird Ventures Chris Sharkey Cliff Obrecht

Exit / M&A

Canva buys UK and US animation and AI startups

Design company Canva has bought US marketing AI startup Mango.AI and UK animation platform Cavalry, its fifth acquisition in two years, adding their founders and a chief algorithms officer to its team.

Startup Daily 24 Feb 2026 Affinity Amazon Apple Canva Cavalry Fable Google Leonardo AI MagicBrief Mango.AI Meta Netflix Nike OpenAI Roblox Cliff Obrecht

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Exit / M&A

Canva acquires software platform Affinity in $500 million deal

Canva has bought creative software maker Affinity, once Serif, for a reported US$380 million (A$582 million), gaining about three million users and a 90-person team and sharpening its position against Adobe.

Forbes Australia 26 Mar 2024 Adobe Affinity Canva Flourish Kaleido Pexels Pixabay SlidesCarnival Smartmockups Cameron Adams

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia

Funding announcement

Canva splashes $30m on Melbourne advertising start-up

Design software company Canva has acquired Melbourne adtech firm Doohly for $30 million, a deal that hands windfalls to the startup's founders and shareholders Skalata Ventures and Archangel Ventures.

Skalata Ventures undated Adobe Affinity Archangel Ventures Blackbird Ventures Canva Cavalry Doohly Leonardo.Ai LiquorLand Magic Brief Mitre 10 Mobil Rebel Sport Skalata Ventures Square Peg Capital Sean Law

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·TechCrunch Australia·Forbes Australia·quadrantpe.com.au·TechCrunch Australia·Tech Funding News - Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·TechCrunch Australia·This Week in Australian Startups·techtimes.com

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