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Wall Street hits software stocks over AI fears, Canva becomes aggressive
Cavalry provides motion graphics tools tailored for designers
Lately, software stocks have taken a hit as investors fret over potential disruptions from artificial intelligence.
In the sphere of startups, Canva has been a standout due to its popularity with design professionals, although the sector is showing its share of challenges, with major competitor Adobe seeing a 30% decrease this year.
With Canva navigating significant changes in the industry, the design software firm is ramping up acquisitions.
On Monday, Canva announced it's taking over two startups — Cavalry and MangoAI — to bolster its competition against Adobe.
Cavalry, a small operation with four members, offers software subscription services for crafting 2D animations.
MangoAI remains in stealth mode, focusing on technology to create short ads. The terms of these transactions remain confidential.
Cameron Adams, a co-founder and product leader at Canva, mentioned to CNBC that clients are increasingly inquiring about their motion graphics offerings.
Cavalry has caught the attention of designers online, emerging as a viable alternative to Adobe's After Effects for certain projects.
Canva will keep Cavalry available for independent use and purchase while weaving its animation capabilities into Canva's main product and the Affinity app, designed for professional creators.
Canva acquired Affinity in 2024, making it freely accessible in October.
Employees from Amazon, ByteDance, Google, and OpenAI are listed as clients on Cavalry's website.
Canva's plan involves integrating MangoAI with the Canva Grow ad creation tool, featured in its business level at $250 per individual annually. MangoAI offers the capability to analyse video metrics and provide suggestions.
"A lot goes into crafting the correct video," stated Adams. This process "includes trimming content, repurposing materials from other campaigns, aligning compelling calls to action with engaging hooks from different videos," he explained.
"Reviewing all these aspects across your marketing efforts is the complete vision for Canva Grow, and Mango will facilitate this," Adams said further.