Canva acquires startups Cavalry and Mango AI to enhance its editors

Canva Expands Capabilities: Acquisition of Cavalry and Mango AI

The graphic design platform Canva announced the acquisition of two new assets: the UK-based company Cavalry, which develops tools for 2D animation, and the startup Mango AI, which specializes in optimizing advertising content.

Canva aims to integrate these new acquisitions into its professional Affinity suite, which already includes tools for working with photos, vector graphics, and layout. With this, it plans to close the gap in video editing and dynamic content, offering users a single “Creative OS” that eliminates the need for third-party software.

The British Cavalry is known for its powerful platform for 2D animation, which is actively used in marketing, the gaming industry, and generative art. On the other hand, the startup Mango AI, founded by former experts from Netflix and Roblox, brings reinforcement learning technologies to Canva to enhance the effectiveness of video advertising. Mango AI co-founder Nirmal Govind will assume the new position of chief algorithm officer, indicating the importance of analytics and AI optimization for the company’s future developments.

This move coincided with broader changes in the graphic software market, where Canva and its competitor Figma continue to grow their audience thanks to the integration of modern AI solutions. Analysts from Morgan Stanley note that such platforms challenge strong players like Adobe due to their focus on automation and accessibility.

With the acquisition of Cavalry and Mango AI, Canva effectively forms a complete cycle for content creation: from static images and vectors to complex 2D animation with subsequent analytical optimization of advertising campaigns. The initiative demonstrates the company’s ambitions to become a leading environment for the creative industry of the future, where the role of artificial intelligence will only grow.