Canva Acquires Simtheory and Ortto to Expand AI and Marketing Automation Capabilities.

Canva has acquired two companies to expand its platform beyond design tools into AI execution and marketing automation. The acquisitions of Simtheory and Ortto signal a strategic shift toward becoming an end-to-end platform for teams to move from ideation to execution.

The moves come ahead of Canva Create on April 16, where the company is expected to reveal additional platform updates.

Simtheory, based in San Francisco, specializes in agentic AI systems that allow multiple AI models to collaborate on complex tasks. Unlike traditional AI tools that generate static outputs, agentic AI can plan, execute, and refine work autonomously across multiple steps.

The acquisition positions Canva to move beyond content generation into AI-powered workflow automation. According to the company's announcement, Simtheory's technology will help teams "move from generating ideas to actually executing them."

The deal marks Canva's continued investment in AI capabilities, following recent updates that introduced visual intelligence features and workflow automation tools. Simtheory's multi-model approach could enable more sophisticated creative workflows that combine different AI models for specific tasks, such as copywriting, image generation, and layout optimization within a single project.

Ortto, an Australia-based marketing automation platform, will integrate with Canva Grow, the company's suite of marketing tools. Ortto currently serves over 11,000 customers across 190 countries with email marketing, SMS campaigns, customer segmentation, and analytics.

The acquisition addresses a key gap in Canva's offerings: the ability to not just create marketing content, but also distribute and measure it. Canva Grow already includes website building and social media scheduling; Ortto's platform adds multi-channel campaign management and customer data analysis.

For existing Ortto customers, the integration means access to Canva's design tools directly within their marketing workflows. For Canva users, it creates a path to launch campaigns without switching between platforms.

The dual acquisitions reflect Canva's broader ambition to own more of the workflow from creative concept to measurable business outcome. By combining design tools, AI agents, and marketing automation, the company is positioning itself as an alternative to stitching together multiple SaaS products.

This strategy puts Canva in competition with established players across multiple categories. In marketing automation, it now competes with platforms like Mailchimp and ConvertKit. In AI-powered workflows, it's entering territory occupied by tools like ChatGPT and Claude.

Financial terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed. Both Simtheory and Ortto teams will join Canva, though integration timelines and specific product roadmaps have not been announced.

Canva plans to share more details about how these acquisitions will shape its platform at Canva Create on April 16. The event, featuring major industry sponsors, is expected to include live demonstrations of new features and integrations.