Canva acquires startups working on animation and marketing | TechCrunch

TechCrunch

by Ivan Mehta

February 24, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Canva has made two strategic acquisitions in recent months, acquiring Cavalry, a UK-based startup specializing in 2D motion animation for industries like advertising, gaming, and generative art, as well as Mango AI, a stealth startup focused on improving video ad performance through reinforcement learning systems. These moves aim to strengthen Canva's position as a comprehensive marketing solution by expanding its capabilities into video creation and advanced analytics. Cavalry’s technology will be integrated with Canva’s Affinity, a professional creative editing suite for photos, vectors, and layouts, which was acquired in 2024. By adding motion editing to Affinity, Canva is addressing a gap in its offerings, creating a more complete toolset for professional creatives. Since revamping Affinity last year and making it free for all users, the software has been downloaded over five million times, showcasing its growing appeal among professionals. Mango AI, co-founded by Nirmal Govind (formerly of Netflix) and Vinith Misra (formerly of Netflix and Roblox), brings expertise in machine learning to Canva. Govind will now serve as Canva’s first Chief Algorithms Officer, while Misra will focus on enhancing Canva's marketing tools. The startup’s product helps advertisers create and optimize campaigns by analyzing outcomes, aligning with Canva’s broader goal of offering more granular measurement for its users. Canva’s recent acquisitions follow other strategic moves, including the purchase of marketing intelligence startup MagicBrief in January 2025 and the launch of Canva Grow, a growth tool for asset creation and performance tracking. These efforts reflect Canva’s ambition to expand beyond design into video creation and analytics, positioning itself as a one-stop platform for marketing professionals. The company ended 2025 with $4 billion in annualized revenue, over 265 million users, and 31 million paid users, underscoring its growing influence in the tech and creative industries. These developments are significant for readers interested in tech, as they highlight Canva’s evolution from a design platform to a comprehensive marketing ecosystem. By investing in animation and AI-driven tools, Canva is not only enhancing its creative suite but

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Originally published on TechCrunch on 2/24/2026