Canva acquires Serif’s Affinity Suite to cater to every stage of design journey

Canva acquires Affinity: Serif, the developer behind the Affinity suite of apps including Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher, has been acquired by Canva in a multi-million dollar agreement, as announced by both companies on Tuesday. 

Affinity Software Suite | Image credit: Canva

With Canva's confirmation of the acquisition, the move is set to propel Canva's enterprise aspirations forward, planning a future where professional designers can use Affinity's capabilities to create designs and templates at scale within organisations using Canva.

“By joining forces with Affinity, we’re excited to unlock the full spectrum of designers at every level and stage of the design journey,” Canva said. 

Team Affinity | Image credit: Canva

The Affinity suite boasts a user base exceeding 3 million globally, offering versatile applications compatible with various platforms like macOS and iPadOS. Renowned in the industry, the Serif applications have garnered accolades such as the Apple Design Award and Apple App of the Year for Mac and iPad. Canva pledges to uphold and improve the Affinity suite, promising continued investment to cater to the needs of professional designers.

In the official announcement, Canva wrote, “We couldn’t be more excited about the possibilities ahead as we welcome Affinity to Canva. Based in the United Kingdom, they join a number of other European companies that have become part of Canva, including Flourish, Kaleido, SmartMockups, Pexels, Pixabay and SlidesCarnival. They bring with them a 90-person team who we’re thrilled to have joining Canva.”  

All members of the approximately 90 professionals of the Serif team will join Canva. However specific financial details remain undisclosed due to the deal's mixed nature involving cash and stock. For the time being, Affinity apps will retain their branding and core features, with no immediate plans for substantial alterations.