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NEXT STEP DESK

Canva has announced the acquisition of two technology companies, Simtheory, an AI collaboration and agent management platform, alongside Ortto, a customer data and marketing automation company. The acquisition comes as the design platform continues to expand its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and marketing infrastructure. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Both Simtheory and Ortto were founded by Chris and Mike Sharkey, entrepreneurs previously behind Stayz, the vacation rental platform which was acquired by Fairfax Media. The founders are set to join Canva in leadership roles across its AI and marketing technology divisions. According to Canva, the additions would strengthen its capabilities in areas including agentic AI, data infrastructure, and marketing automation.