Canva to buy Leonardo.Ai en route to IPO
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The news: Canva has announced its intention to acquire Leonardo.Ai, an Australian text-to-image AI platform used by 19 million people.
The numbers: The sale price was undisclosed. Leonardo.Ai last December raised $47 million in its series A, at a valuation also not disclosed.
The context: Canva's long-awaited IPO is on the horizon. Though we don't yet know the date, the company has been open about its intention to go public in the coming 18 months or so.
Leonardo.Ai is not just a way to onboard nearly 20 million users to Canva's product suite, but also a purchase of significant AI knowhow. Leonardo.Ai in June launched its very own AI foundation model, Phoenix, the first (and as-yet only) foundation model made by an Australian company.
The deal marks Canva's second major acquisition of the year, coming three months after it bought UK design company Affinity for an estimated $1 billion.
What they said: Leonardo.Ai co-founder and CEO JJ Fiasson said: “Today marks the start of a new chapter which will accelerate the pace we innovate at Leonardo.Ai."
"Joining the Canva family means we can invest more deeply in scaling our AI research efforts globally, and move even faster to deliver new features and functionality to creatives worldwide.”
Canva chief product officer Cameron Adams described the acquisition as "two Australian companies joining forces to bring world-first breakthroughs in AI and creativity".
“This field is constantly evolving, and Leonardo’s technical leadership and community impact can’t be overstated," Adams said. "Bringing our worlds together will accelerate each of our teams' work, taking us from strength to strength, and we can’t wait to get started.”
Read more: For further details about how the deal came about and what it means for both companies, read this story by Bronwen Clune and Daniel Van Boom.
The source: Canva
