Founder, Simtheory

Chris Sharkey

Role	Organisation	Sources
Founder	Simtheory	Startup Daily, SmartCompany
Founder	Ortto	Startup Daily, SmartCompany

Coverage

Stories naming Chris Sharkey. 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 paints itself as an AI work platform with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions

Canva has bought Sydney AI startup Simtheory and marketing automation firm Ortto, its fifth and sixth acquisitions in ten months, as it repositions from design tool to AI workplace platform; no prices disclosed.

SmartCompany 9 Apr 2026 Anthropic Atlassian Canva Cavalry DeepSeek Doohly Google Leonardo.Ai MagicBrief Mango.AI OpenAI Ortto Simtheory Chris Sharkey Cliff Obrecht

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·This Week in Australian Startups

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Chris Sharkey

Roles

Coverage

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

Canva paints itself as an AI work platform with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions