Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions

Canva announced on Wednesday a dual acquisition of SymtheoryAI collaboration and assistant management platform, and Orttocustomer data is a marketing machine company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Canva says the acquisition is part of its ongoing investment in AI and marketing infrastructure.

Both companies were founded by Chris and Mike Sharkey, who previously started the vacation rental business Stayzwhich was bought by Fairfax Media. The two will join Canva in leadership roles across the company’s AI and business technology teams.

Canva says the acquisition adds strengths in AI, data architecture, marketing systems, and customer engagement, helping Canva evolve from a creative tool into a system where teams manage all their projects from start to finish. The add-on expands Canva’s capabilities across the entire lifecycle, from initial ideas to campaign development and measurement.

Simtheory’s platform enables teams to use AI to create agents that understand their business, use tools, and perform real-world tasks. Simtheory allows teams to use the latest models for different use cases and develop workflows based on their needs.

Ortto, on the other hand, combines a customer platform with an advertising system, allowing teams to create and manage campaigns via email, SMS, push, in-app messaging, forms, and search in a single system. Its event-driven design and code-free integration make it easy to connect and activate data in real time, Canva says. The platform is used by more than 11,000 customers in 190 countries.

“Simtheory supports our evolution from an AI-based design platform to an AI platform with design and production tools at the core,” said Canva co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht, in a press release. “At the same time, Ortto enhances our ability to use all products and content through Canva Grow, from planning and design to printing and optimization for each channel.”

Canva Grow is the industry’s go-to tool for content creation and performance measurement.

This latest acquisition comes as Canva has been on a quest to acquire more. Two weeks ago, the company acquired digital outdoor advertising startup Doohly. Six weeks ago, Canva announced get twice about the basics Horsemenwhich works on animation, and MangoAIwhich works for managing ads. Before that, Canva got the basics of smart marketing MagicBrief in January 2025.

Canva is closed 2025 at $4 billion in annual revenue with over 265 million active users and 31 million paid users. The company also saw a 20% increase in monthly users.