Startup · $82.8m raised
AI art production platform for consumers and enterprise users
Sydney, NSW
Programs: AWS (Generative AI Accelerator)
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Leonardo.Ai raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| TIRTA Ventures | undisclosed · Accelerator | - |
| Smash Capital | undisclosed · Accelerator | - |
| Side Stage Ventures | undisclosed · Accelerator | - |
| Samsung Next | undisclosed · Accelerator | - |
| Gaorong Capital | undisclosed | - |
| Blackbird Ventures | undisclosed · Accelerator | - |
| AWS | Accelerator | - |
The transaction that ended Leonardo.Ai's run as a startup, per published coverage. It closes the funding history too, where it is the ladder's last rung.
Companies Leonardo.Ai acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
Stories naming Leonardo.Ai. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
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.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·This Week in Australian Startups
AWS picked 40 startups for its 2025 Generative AI Accelerator, including Australians Pluralis Research and Mary Technology; the piece recalls past raises by alumni Relevance AI, Leonardo.ai and Marqo, and Leonardo.ai's sale to Canva.
Nakatomi, an Australian startup studio, has collected $3.5 million from backers including Scalare Partners and Leonardo.AI's Chris Gillis, cash it will deploy creating several companies each year.
Canva has bought Sydney marketing-analytics startup MagicBrief. Terms undisclosed. The deal follows the startup's 2023 pre-seed raise led by Blackbird and Archangel Ventures.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Women's Agenda·TechCrunch Australia
Year-in-review column on Australian AI in 2024: five startup raises, Canva buying Leonardo.ai, new government AI regulation and a parliamentary inquiry, the Cosmos AI trial backlash, and a national AI capability plan.
Also SmartCompany
A fresh sale of existing shares has lifted Canva's valuation to about $48.7 billion from $38.5 billion in January, boosting the co-founders' wealth and edging the design software firm toward a possible public listing.
Also Fortune Term Sheet
SmartCompany's rolling coverage of SXSW Sydney day two, recording Polymath's pre-seed raise and Build Club's recent funding, the Equity Clear launch, Startmate's Demo Day, and women-founded startup pitches at Google's event.
Canva is set to buy Sydney AI startup Leonardo.Ai for an undisclosed sum; the piece also recalls Leonardo's $47 million 2023 raise with Blackbird and Canva's earlier $1 billion Serif purchase.
Blackbird's annual review counts $229 million deployed in 2024 across 41 companies, $1.15 billion invested over five years, and about $1.14 billion returned to LPs through secondaries, Canva's purchase of Leonardo.ai, and Hivery's collapse.
Roundup of eight local raises totalling roughly $81.5 million: generative AI, sustainable packaging, VR medical training, optical radar, drinks, preventive health and wholesale retail software.
Also Ten13·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia
Sydney AI platform Leonardo.Ai has completed a Series A on top of its seed round, taking total backing past $47 million from Blackbird, Side Stage Ventures, Samsung Next, Smash Capital and TIRTA Ventures.
Leonardo.Ai, a Sydney-based AI art platform, has raised $31 million US from Blackbird, Samsung Next and other backers, money it will put toward its enterprise push and hiring.
Also mediaweek.com.au·inaitoday.com·Forbes Australia·ARN (ARNnet)·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
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.
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