Canva to buy Sydney-based adtech start-up Magicbrief
Australian AI-powered creative intelligence start-up Magicbrief is set to be acquired by Canva, signalling the visual communications giant’s push into the enterprise and marketing space.
Announced at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the acquisition marks a major expansion of Canva’s platform. It will bring data, insights, and design together into one collaborative workflow.
Magicbrief’s technology will be brought into Canva to help teams create content that is engaging and on brand, as well as informed and underpinned by real-time performance data.
Sydney-based Magicbrief was founded in 2022 by George Howes and Dan Nolan. It is a workflow tool that allows users to uncover top-performing ad creative, understand which creative elements are driving performance, and quickly generate data-backed briefs for future pieces of work.
It has previously received funding from various backers, including Vimeo’s founder Zach Klein and the chief executive of health-tech startup Eucalyptus, Tim Doyle.
Since its launch, Magicbrief has analysed more than $6 billion in ad spend, and is used by marketers from leading brands including Fenty Beauty, Koala, and Linktree.
“We started MagicBrief to give creative teams smarter tools to move faster and make better work. Joining Canva takes that vision to the next level — helping us reach more marketers and turn great ideas into high performing creative,” Howes, who is CEO of Magicbrief, said in a media release.
Magicbrief’s founders Dan Nolan and George Howes
Canva’s co-founder and COO, Cliff Obrecht, said the acquisition will allow Canva to enter the “next frontier” by powering its content and marketing workflow. The start-up’s capabilities will “deepen” Canva’s offering as it looks to grow in the enterprise and marketing space.
“In today’s visual economy, winning brands are those that know exactly what creative works, where it works, and why,” he said.
“By combining MagicBrief’s AI-powered insights with Canva’s Visual Suite, we’re giving every team the tools to not just create great content, but drive stronger results.”
Magicbrief will continue to operate independently in the short term, while its technology and team integrate into Canva’s core product.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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