Canva buys three properties to boost London operations

Sydney-headquartered graphic design giant Canva is literally increasing its UK footprint with the acquisition of three properties, including its current European headquarters at 33 Hoxton Square in London which was opened in May last year.

In an announcement published by Canva's European lead Duncan Clark, who co-founded data visualisation platform Flourish which was acquired in early 2022, it was revealed the company would be buying the current office as well as nearby properties The Rutherford at 43 Hoxton Square, and The Bersey Warehouse at 293 Old St.

These buildings are all located near the bustling ‘Silicon Roundabout’ and tech scene in Shoreditch.

The expansion follows growth in the UK team from 100 to 250 since May last year, while the European regional team now comprises more than 400 people.

"We’re excited to be growing our London Campus with the acquisition of three buildings including our current HQ, enhancing our presence in the UK and supporting our team’s rapid growth across Europe," Clark said.

"This major milestone reflects our deep commitment to Europe, and the rapid growth of our team, business and communities here.

"The expanded Campus in and around London’s Hoxton Square will also create an even more vibrant, cohesive environment for local Canvanauts."

Clark said the flagship building at 33 Hoxton Square would remain at the heart of Canva's operations, but over time the new buildings would "elevate" the on-campus experience for the growing UK team.

"Our current office is home to our ‘Town Hall’, where we bring together our team, customers, partners and Canva user communities – and host meet-ups and gatherings for nonprofits, education organisations and others," he said.

"The ground floor at the newly acquired Bersey Warehouse is a flexible open space that will allow us to build on this success while also expanding our office space and hosting teams from Europe and the wider world for offsites.

"We greatly admired all three buildings and the campus feel they’ll create around the gorgeous park of Hoxton Square – operating similarly to our Sydney campus which spans multiple buildings in Surry Hills. This model celebrates unique cityscapes and furthers our sustainability mission through the adaptive re-use of the existing characterful buildings."

Clark highlights the group's roots in Europe go back further, with Canva having taken dvantage of the region’s vibrant startup scene over the past six years to grow its team and technology.

"Through acquisitions of cutting-edge European companies, we’ve been able to evolve and scale our platform to meet the needs of larger enterprises as we empower every person in every organisation to design," he said.

"Most recently, we joined forces with UK-based design software company Affinity as we look to empower professional designers through our offering.

London-based Flourish, the company I co-founded and which Canva acquired in 2021, offers data visualisation tools used by leading brands like the BBC and Sky."

He also noted that in Austria, the visual AI tool Kaleido had been essential in developing Canva’s image and video background removers and the Bulk Create feature, contributing to its new Magic Studio products and leading to the establishment of the Vienna campus.

"Czech-based Smartmockups(opens in a new tab or window), now called Mockups, has led the development of Canva’s product and printing mockup features, while Pexels and Pixabay(opens in a new tab or window) have been providing high-quality stock photography, video, vectors, and illustrations since 2018," Clark added.