TL;DR
- Canva acquires Simtheory and Ortto to expand AI and marketing capabilities
- Simtheory brings agentic AI workflows and custom AI assistants
- Ortto adds end-to-end marketing automation and customer data tools
- Founders Chris and Mike Sharkey join Canva leadership
- New features expected to debut at Canva Create on April 16
Canva Expands Into AI-Powered Workflows With Simtheory Integration
Canva’s acquisition of Simtheory marks a clear evolution in its platform strategy, moving beyond design tools into a more comprehensive AI-driven workspace. The company is positioning itself as a system where work happens from start to finish, not just where visuals are created.
Simtheory’s platform focuses on enabling teams to build custom AI agents that understand business context, collaborate across tools, and execute tasks with reliability. This addresses a growing pain point where teams rely on multiple disconnected AI tools, leading to fragmented workflows and inefficiencies.
By integrating Simtheory, Canva aims to centralize these workflows, allowing users to move seamlessly from idea generation to execution with AI acting as a collaborative partner. The company noted that this step accelerates its transition into an AI platform where design and productivity tools are embedded at the core.
“We’re excited to welcome Simtheory and Ortto to Canva. They’ve built exceptional teams and technology, and this acquisition marks an important step toward evolving Canva from a design tool into the system where work happens end-to-end, whether it’s a quick idea or a full campaign,” said Cliff Obrecht, Co-Founder and COO, Canva.
Early integrations and capabilities are expected to be showcased at Canva Create on April 16, where the company plans to reveal what it describes as its biggest product evolution yet.
Ortto Strengthens Canva’s End-To-End Marketing Automation Stack
Alongside AI workflows, Canva is also doubling down on marketing automation through its acquisition of Ortto. The move enhances Canva’s ability to support the full marketing lifecycle, from campaign creation to performance optimization.
Ortto’s platform combines customer data with multi-channel marketing automation, enabling businesses to manage email, SMS, push notifications, in-app messaging, forms, and surveys within a single system. This eliminates the need for marketers to switch between tools, a common bottleneck in campaign execution.
The platform already serves over 11,000 customers across 190 countries, highlighting its established presence in the marketing technology space. Canva plans to integrate Ortto’s capabilities into its growing suite of marketing products, building on recent acquisitions.
Despite the acquisition, Ortto’s team will continue developing its standalone offering while contributing to Canva’s broader ecosystem.
“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,” said Mike Sharkey, Co-Founder and CEO, Ortto and Simtheory.
Canva Builds A Unified AI And Marketing Ecosystem With New Leadership
Both Simtheory and Ortto were founded by brothers Chris and Mike Sharkey, who now join Canva in leadership roles across AI and marketing technology. Their addition signals Canva’s intent to unify fragmented workflows across content creation and campaign execution.
Topics For More Insights
By combining agentic AI capabilities with marketing automation, Canva is positioning itself as an all-in-one system where teams can ideate, create, publish, measure, and optimize without switching tools.
The announcement comes just ahead of Canva Create 2026, Canva's flagship annual event, where the company is expected to unveil major updates that could redefine how teams approach creative and marketing workflows.
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