Canva buys Cavalry & MangoAI, appoints algorithms chief

Canva has acquired UK motion and animation software maker Cavalry and US-based AI startup MangoAI, expanding its professional design tools and accelerating work on marketing and personalisation algorithms.

It has also created a new executive role, Chief Algorithms Officer, appointing MangoAI co-founder Nirmal Govind. The position will focus on AI research and model development.

The two deals continue Canva's recent run of acquisitions. Over the past two years it has bought Affinity and Leonardo in 2024, and MagicBrief in 2025. Cavalry and MangoAI are the fourth and fifth purchases in that period.

Canva finished 2025 with more than USD $4 billion in annualised revenue, up 36% year on year. It reported more than 31 million paid seats and free cash flow for the ninth consecutive year. It also had 265 million monthly active users, including teams at more than 95% of the Fortune 500.

Use of AI features has become a key metric for the platform. Canva's AI products have been used more than 24 billion times, and more than 50 million new users joined in 2025.

Motion design

Cavalry is a 2D animation platform used by motion designers. Canva said the acquisition will help it add motion to its growing set of professional tools, which already includes Affinity's photo, vector and layout software.

Affinity has been downloaded more than four million times since launching in October, according to Canva. Financial terms of the Cavalry and MangoAI acquisitions were not disclosed.

Canva co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht said the company wants to broaden what it offers professional designers.

"We've always believed creative tools should be accessible to everyone, and we're seeing that reflected in how the design community is responding. Affinity has already surpassed four million downloads in just a few months. Now, with Cavalry joining Canva, we're taking another big step toward helping professional designers break free from bloated and expensive tools, bringing everything from vector to motion design into one powerful creative suite. With the acquisition of MangoAI, we're also doubling down on building powerful new products for marketing and creative teams. Building on MagicBrief, MangoAI's algorithms and learning loops will power the next generation of our AI-driven marketing products, laying the foundations for a new era where performance data continuously improves and adapts creative in real time."

Cavalry was founded by Chris Hardcastle, Ian Waters and Adam Jenns. The founders will join Canva to work on its professional creative products. Canva said Cavalry is trusted by companies including Amazon, Meta, Google and Netflix.

Cavalry co-founder Chris Hardcastle said the company will continue its product direction within Canva.

"We built Cavalry to give motion designers a faster, more flexible creative playground suitable for the demands of modern production. Canva's platform and long-term vision make it a natural next chapter for our technology. Together, we have an incredible opportunity to redefine motion design, bringing smarter workflows that make animation more powerful, and far more accessible, to a new generation of creatives."

The Cavalry deal is Canva's seventh acquisition in Europe, according to Canva. Previous European purchases include Affinity, Flourish, Kaleido, Smartmockups, Pexels and Pixabay.

Marketing algorithms

MangoAI is an early-stage startup focused on creative optimisation for video advertising. Canva said MangoAI has developed algorithms and a reinforcement learning system that uses ad-platform feedback signals to refine video creative.

The acquisition extends Canva's push into marketing tools after the MagicBrief purchase last year. Canva said the MangoAI technology will sit alongside Canva Grow, its suite of marketing intelligence products.

Govind's appointment signals a stronger internal focus on algorithms and data-driven product development. Canva said he previously served as Vice President of Data Science & Engineering at Netflix and has more than two decades of experience in machine learning systems.

"Canva has built one of the world's most impactful creative platforms. I'm excited to join the team and help shape how data, algorithms, and AI power personalised experiences across the product - supporting everyone from first-time creators to the most advanced teams."

MangoAI co-founder Vinith Misra will also join Canva as Reinforcement Learning Lead within its Research Lab, after machine learning roles at Roblox and Netflix.