{"id":3110421,"date":"2026-04-08T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=3110421"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:54:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T21:54:28","slug":"canva-doubles-down-on-ai-and-marketing-automation-with-simtheory-ortto-acquisitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/04\/08\/canva-doubles-down-on-ai-and-marketing-automation-with-simtheory-ortto-acquisitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canva announced on Wednesday the dual acquisition of <a href=\"https:\/\/simtheory.ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Simtheory<\/a>, an AI collaboration and agent management platform, and <a href=\"https:\/\/ortto.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Ortto<\/a>, a customer data and marketing automation company. The financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Canva says the acquisitions are part of its continued investment in AI and marketing infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both companies were founded by Chris and Mike Sharkey, previously founders of vacation rental service <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2013\/12\/04\/homeaway-acquires-australian-vacation-rentals-site-stayz-for-198-million-cash\/\">Stayz<\/a>, which was acquired by Fairfax Media. The pair will join Canva in leadership roles across the company\u2019s AI and marketing technology teams.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canva says the acquisitions add strengths in agentic AI, data infrastructure, marketing automation, and customer engagement, helping Canva evolve from a design tool into a system where teams do all of their work from start to finish. The additions extend Canva\u2019s capabilities across the full workflow, from early ideas to campaign scaling and measurement.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"383\" width=\"680\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?w=680\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3110459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png 3694w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=150,84 150w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=680,383 680w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=1200,676 1200w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=1280,721 1280w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=430,242 430w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=720,405 720w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=900,507 900w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=800,450 800w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=1536,865 1536w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=2048,1153 2048w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=668,376 668w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=666,375 666w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=1096,617 1096w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=708,399 708w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simtheory-Custom-Skills.png?resize=50,28 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Simtheory<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simtheory\u2019s platform helps teams use AI to build assistants that understand their business, work across tools, and handle real tasks. Simtheory lets teams apply the latest models across diverse use cases and set up agentic workflows tailored to their needs.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the other hand, Ortto combines a customer data platform with marketing automation, letting teams design and run journeys across email, SMS, push, in-app messaging, forms, and surveys in one system. Its event-driven architecture and no-code integrations 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.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSimtheory accelerates our evolution from a design platform with AI tools to an AI platform with design and productivity tools at its core,\u201d said Canva co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht, in a press release. \u201cAt the same time, Ortto strengthens our ability to power the entire marketing and content lifecycle through Canva Grow, from planning and creating to publishing and optimising across every channel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"385\" width=\"680\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?w=680\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3110461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png 2048w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=150,85 150w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=300,170 300w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=768,435 768w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=680,385 680w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=1200,680 1200w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=1280,726 1280w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=430,244 430w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=720,408 720w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=900,510 900w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=800,454 800w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=1536,871 1536w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=668,379 668w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=661,375 661w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=1088,617 1088w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=708,401 708w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ortto-Emails.png?resize=50,28 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Ortto<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canva Grow is the company&#8217;s tool for asset creation and performance measurement. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-techcrunch-inline-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"inline-cta__wrapper\">\n\t\t<div class=\"inline-cta__logo\">\n\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"41\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 41 20\"><path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M0 0v6.452h7.097V20h7.097V6.452h6.451V0zM27.742 13.548V6.452h-7.097V20h20v-6.452zM40.645 0H27.742v6.452h12.903z\"\/><\/svg>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"inline-cta__flag\">Techcrunch event<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"inline-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"inline-cta__header-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"inline-cta__header-container-desktop\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"inline-cta__header has-h-5-font-size\">Meet your next investor or portfolio startup at Disrupt<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"inline-cta__subheader\"><br>Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $410.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"inline-cta__header-container-mobile\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"inline-cta__header has-h-5-font-size\">Meet your next investor or portfolio startup at Disrupt<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"inline-cta__subheader\"><br>Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $410.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"inline-cta__event-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"inline-cta__location\">San Francisco, CA<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"inline-cta__separator\">|<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"inline-cta__date\">October 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"inline-cta__register-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a data-ctaText=\"REGISTER NOW\" data-destinationLink=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/events\/tc-disrupt-2026\/?utm_source=tc&amp;utm_medium=ad&amp;utm_campaign=disrupt2026&amp;utm_content=tc_inline_eb&amp;promo=tc_inline_eb&amp;display=\" data-event=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/events\/tc-disrupt-2026\/?utm_source=tc&amp;utm_medium=ad&amp;utm_campaign=disrupt2026&amp;utm_content=tc_inline_eb&amp;promo=tc_inline_eb&amp;display=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">REGISTER NOW<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These latest acquisitions come as Canva has been on a bit of an acquisition spree. Two weeks ago, the company acquired digital outdoor advertising startup Doohly. Six weeks ago, Canva announced the <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/02\/23\/canva-acquires-startups-working-on-animation-and-marketing\/\">dual acquisition<\/a> of startups <a href=\"https:\/\/cavalry.scenegroup.co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Cavalry<\/a>, which works on animation, and <a href=\"https:\/\/mangoai.dev\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">MangoAI<\/a>, which works on improving ad performance.\u00a0Before that, Canva acquired marketing intelligence startup <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canva.com\/newsroom\/news\/magicbrief-acquisition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">MagicBrief<\/a> in January 2025.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canva closed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/02\/18\/canva-gets-to-4b-in-revenue-as-llm-referral-traffic-rises\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2025 at $4 billion in annualized revenue<\/a>&nbsp;with more than 265 million users and 31 million paid users. The company also saw a 20% increase in monthly active users.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canva says the acquisitions add strengths in agentic AI, data infrastructure, marketing automation, and customer engagement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574480,"featured_media":3110424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tc-featured-article":false,"tc-header-option":"","tc-breaking-news":false,"tc-article-brief":false,"carmot_uuid":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-04-08T21:00:24Z","apple_news_api_id":"89fcb1fc-4293-45f0-9ca4-f1e9e7efc312","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-04-08T21:54:15Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Aifyx_EKTRfCcpPHp5-_DEg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"tc_subtitle":"","tc_featured_image_disabled":false,"tc_exclude_from_rss_feed":false,"tc_exclude_from_content_rivers":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577051039],"tags":[5238643,103613],"tc_region":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_storyline_tax":[],"coauthors":[576912303],"class_list":["post-3110421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apps","tag-canva","tag-mergers-and-acquisitions"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.1 (Yoast SEO v25.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions | TechCrunch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Canva says the acquisitions add strengths in agentic AI, data infrastructure, marketing automation, and customer engagement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/04\/08\/canva-doubles-down-on-ai-and-marketing-automation-with-simtheory-ortto-acquisitions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions | TechCrunch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Canva says 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