Home Canva boosts generative AI capabilities in Leonardo.AI acquisition

Canva boosts generative AI capabilities in Leonardo.AI acquisition

TL:DR

  • Canva acquires Leonardo.AI to boost generative AI capabilities.
  • Leonardo.AI, was founded in 2022, raised $47M and has 19 million users.
  • Canva's acquisition aligns with its plans for an IPO in 2025.
  • Graphic design platform Canva has acquired Leonardo.AI in a bid to expand its generative AI capabilities.

    Running since 2012, and now with over 100 million users, Canva is used as a graphic design platform by both individuals and companies. While it had introduced some of its own in-house generative AI tools with a text-to-image generator, it seems the company is keen to expand on those possibilities down the line, if its recent acquisition is anything to go by.

    Australia’s largest privately held technology company announced it had struck a deal to purchase the fast-growing Leonardo.AI, a generative AI platform, on Tuesday (July, 30) This would boost Canva’s AI capabilities ahead of its IPO, expected to happen sometime in 2025. No financial terms of the acquisition have yet been made public.

    What is Leonardo.AI?

    Founded in December 2022, Leonardo.AI is a relatively new company even for the AI space. The company raised $47 million of local Australian investment in Australia last December, featuring investors like Blackbird Ventures and Side Stage Ventures.

    Leonardo.AI boasts 19 million users and is effective enough to compete with big names in generative AI like Midjourney and OpenAI’s Dall E. It was already in the process of raising more funding in a second round before accepting the Canva acquisition.

    It’s thought that Leonardo.AI co-founded and CEO JJ Fiassion met Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht through Blackbird Ventures, with a meeting taking place between the pair of them earlier this year. A major appeal for the acquisition was when Leonardo.AI revealed Phoenix, its own foundation AI model.

    The model prides itself on responding to long detailed prompts effectively, creating coherent text (something lots of generative AI tools struggle with), and rapid on-the-go editing using short-form phrases and prompts. This blends well with Canva’s streamlined approach and would likely be easy to incorporate into the graphic design platform alongside its tools. There’s no confirmation from Canva that this is the plan but it seems a likely reason for the acquisition, particularly as competitors like Adobe are ramping up generative AI tools.

    Featured image: Ideogram

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    Rachael Davies
    Tech Journalist

    Rachael Davies has spent six years reporting on tech and entertainment, writing for publications like the Evening Standard, Huffington Post, Dazed, and more. From niche topics like the latest gaming mods to consumer-faced guides on the latest tech, she puts her MA in Convergent Journalism to work, following avenues guided by a variety of interests. As well as writing, she also has experience in editing as the UK Editor of The Mary Sue , as well as speaking on the important of SEO in journalism at the Student Press Association National Conference. You can find her full portfolio over on…

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