KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed higher, buoyed by Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 2.75 per cent, alongside positive cues from Wall Street. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 19.30 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 1,635.86 from Wednesday’s close of 1,616.56. The benchmark index opened 6.72 points higher at 1,623.28, and fluctuated between an intraday high of 1,642.44 and a low of 1,622.62 during the trading session. However, market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 723 to 497, while 466 counters were unchanged, 1,075 untraded and 10 suspended. Turnover rose to 3.74 billion units valued at RM3.61 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.81 billion units valued at RM2.57 billion.
Canva Inc is set to acquire image generation startup Leonardo.ai, marking its second acquisition this year as it aims to compete with creative software leader Adobe Inc.
This deal will allow Canva to integrate Leonardo.ai’s video and image generation models into its own products. The acquisition, finalized in about a month, is Canva’s fastest to date, according to co-founder Cameron Adams. This follows Canva's recent acquisition of the Affinity suite of software, popular with Apple Inc Mac users.
Leonardo.ai, founded in 2022 and backed by Canva investor Blackbird Ventures, raised $31 million last year. Its 120-person team develops software that helps users generate and edit images online using text prompts. Over the past 18 months, users have created over a billion images on its platform.
Canva, valued at $26 billion this year, is expanding its AI tools to attract Adobe’s enterprise customers and boost revenue growth. Canva’s recent acquisitions include visual AI startup Kaleido.ai and image providers Pexels and Pixabay.
Founded a decade ago by Cameron Adams, Cliff Obrecht, and Melanie Perkins, Canva has grown into a major competitor to Adobe. Despite Adobe’s addition of AI features, its shares have dropped over 10% this year after a $20 billion deal to acquire Figma fell through.
Canva has long been viewed as a potential candidate for going public but has not disclosed any concrete plans. The company recently completed a $2.5 billion secondary share sale, according to COO Obrecht.
Key Takeaways:
- Canva acquires Leonardo.ai to enhance its AI capabilities.
- The deal was finalized in about a month, Canva’s quickest acquisition yet.
- Leonardo.ai’s team of 120 focuses on AI image and video generation.
- Canva aims to attract Adobe’s enterprise customers with new AI tools.
- Canva has acquired eight companies, including Affinity and Kaleido.ai.
Comments
Post a Comment