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The Gist
- Dual acquisition. Canva has acquired both Simtheory, an agentic AI and multi-model collaboration platform, and Ortto, a customer data and marketing automation platform, in a move to extend its footprint across the full marketing and content lifecycle.
- Same founders, two products. Simtheory and Ortto were both built by brothers Chris and Mike Sharkey, previously founders of Stayz, acquired by Fairfax Media. Both will join Canva in leadership roles.
- More to come April 16. Canva says the Simtheory acquisition lays the groundwork for what it's calling "the biggest transformation in Canva's history," set to be unveiled at Canva Create on April 16.
Canva announced today that it has acquired two companies founded by the same team: Simtheory, an AI collaboration and agent management platform, and Ortto, a customer data platform combined with marketing automation. The acquisitions are Canva's latest move to extend its platform from a design tool into what it describes as an end-to-end system for work.
The announcement comes one week before Canva Create on April 16, where the company has promised to reveal what it calls "the biggest evolution in its history."
Founded in 2012 in Australia, Canva targets a broad range of users from individuals and small businesses to enterprises and educational institutions seeking accessible visual content creation tools.
Table of Contents
- The Strategic Logic: From Canvas to Full-Stack Marketing Platform
- Simtheory: Agentic AI for the Workplace
- Ortto: Customer Data Meets Marketing Automation
- The Founders: A Familiar Team Behind Both Deals
- What It Means for CX and Marketing Technology Leaders
- Canva Gets Busy Ahead of Canva Create
- CDP & Marketing Automation Context
The Strategic Logic: From Canvas to Full-Stack Marketing Platform
Canva has been on an acquisition run. The company has recently brought in MagicBrief, MangoAI and Doohly, all with the stated goal of supporting the full marketing and content lifecycle. The additions of Simtheory and Ortto extend that strategy into agentic AI workflows and customer data infrastructure.
Canva COO and Co-Founder Cliff Obrecht framed the acquisitions as a step toward making Canva "the system where work happens end-to-end, whether it's a quick idea or a full campaign."
"Simtheory accelerates our evolution from a design platform with AI tools to an AI platform with design and productivity tools at its core," Obrecht said in the company's announcement. He added that Ortto strengthens Canva's ability to "power the entire marketing and content lifecycle through Canva Grow, from planning and creating to publishing and optimising across every channel."
Simtheory: Agentic AI for the Workplace
Simtheory was built to help teams work with AI across tasks and applications, enabling users to build assistants tailored to their business, set up multi-model agentic systems and move from generation into execution. Canva describes the platform as addressing a gap it sees in the AI landscape: while AI has made it easier to generate content, most knowledge workers still rely on fragmented tools and workflows to bring ideas to life.
The acquisition is positioned as the foundation for Canva's next product chapter, with a preview expected at Canva Create on April 16.
Ortto: Customer Data Meets Marketing Automation
Ortto brings a different set of capabilities: a customer data platform combined with marketing automation across email, SMS, push notifications, in-app messaging, forms and surveys. The platform uses an event-driven architecture with no-code integrations and, according to Canva's announcement, serves more than 11,000 customers across 190 countries.
Ortto's founders, writing on the company blog today, told existing customers that day-to-day operations will not change. "Nothing changes about how Ortto works today," Mike and Chris Sharkey wrote, noting that Ortto will continue as a standalone platform with the same account structure, pricing, workflows, and support team in place.
Ortto will fold into Canva Grow, the company's marketing lifecycle product.
The Founders: A Familiar Team Behind Both Deals
One notable thread connecting the two acquisitions: Chris and Mike Sharkey founded both Simtheory and Ortto. The brothers previously co-founded Stayz, a vacation rental platform acquired by Fairfax Media, and have backgrounds in building and selling startups in the Australian tech ecosystem. Both will join Canva in leadership roles spanning the company's AI and marketing technology teams.
"It's rare to find such strong alignment in mission and values," Mike Sharkey said in Canva's announcement. "From day one, we've been working to make complex things simple with both Simtheory and Ortto, and we can't wait to continue doing that on an even larger scale as part of Canva."
What It Means for CX and Marketing Technology Leaders
For marketing technology leaders, the acquisitions signal Canva's intent to compete in territory currently occupied by established players in marketing automation, CDP and agentic AI — a crowded and fast-moving market. Canva reports more than 265 million monthly users, a distribution advantage that gives any acquired technology immediate scale potential.
Should CDP and martech vendors be put on notice? Sure thing.
Whether Canva can integrate these capabilities into a coherent platform experience — while keeping existing Ortto customers stable and building out its agentic AI vision through Simtheory — will be the harder question to answer. April 16 may offer some clarity.
Financial terms of both acquisitions were not disclosed.
What Canva Gets: Simtheory and Ortto at a Glance
Editor's note: The following table summarizes the core capabilities, strategic fit and customer reach Canva acquires through its dual purchase of Simtheory and Ortto.
| Company | Category | Core Capabilities | Strategic Fit for Canva | Customer/Market Reach | Canva Product Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simtheory | Agentic AI & Multi-Model Collaboration | AI assistant building, multi-model orchestration, agentic workflow execution across tasks and apps | Shifts Canva from a design platform with AI tools to an AI platform with design tools at its core | Early-stage traction among enterprise teams exploring AI execution beyond generation | Canva AI platform (unveiled at Canva Create, April 16) |
| Ortto | Customer Data Platform & Marketing Automation | CDP, journey orchestration, email, SMS, push notifications, in-app messaging, forms, surveys, no-code integrations | Powers the post-creation side of marketing — activation, measurement, and optimization at scale | 11,000+ customers across 190 countries | Canva Grow |
Canva Gets Busy Ahead of Canva Create
Canva is hosting its annual product conference, Canva Create Los Angeles 2026, on April 16 at Hollywood Park. Available both in-person and as a free online stream, the event targets graphic designers, marketing managers, content strategists and enterprise brand leads. Key focus areas include AI tooling updates, team collaboration, brand governance and enterprise workflow integration.
Also in April, Sprinklr announced integration with Canva's Digital Asset Management system in its Spring '26 release, streamlining how teams import creative assets while maintaining brand governance at scale.
In October 2025, Canva unveiled its Creative Operating System — its largest product evolution to date — introducing upgraded video tools, a marketing engine called Canva Grow and a new Canva Business tier. By year-end 2025, the company reported $4 billion in ARR, 265 million monthly active users and 31 million paid subscribers.
Canva has also accelerated M&A activity, acquiring Cavalry and MangoAI in February to strengthen 2D animation and ad optimization, followed by the acquisition of Simtheory and Ortto this week to add AI agent tooling and customer data automation.
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CDP & Marketing Automation Context
Integrating customer data platforms with marketing automation systems has become essential for managing customer journeys from data collection through campaign execution.
Modern CDPs operate across a continuous lifecycle that ingests signals, resolves identity, builds intelligence and activates insights across channels. This connectivity enables businesses to react in real time to customer actions — from clicked links to abandoned carts — and refine strategies accordingly.
Orchestration layers now monitor customer signals and adjust the next-best action, enabling proactive, context-aware engagement across web, mobile, email, social and in-person channels. This supports customer journey mapping and optimization.
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