Latest news with #Perth-founded
West Australian
3 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Tech unicorn Canva picks up Sydney startup MagicBrief
Perth-founded tech unicorn Canva is buying an Australian AI-powered creative intelligence startup as it pushes deeper into the enterprise and marketing sector. Canva said the acquisition of Sydney-based MagicBrief would build out its Visual Suite offering for marketing and creative teams. MagicBrief was founded in 2022. Its creative analytics and research platform uses AI to help marketers better understand and respond to their advertising content strategies, formats, and messages that perform best with audiences. The tools are already being used by thousands of global brands, marketers and agencies to analyse and inform creative development and have to date analysed more than $6 billion in ad spending. The purchase price was not disclosed. Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht said the deal marked a major expansion of the company — which bills itself as 'the world's only all-in-one visual communication platform' — and introduces a 'powerful' new layer of creative intelligence to its recently upgraded Visual Suite. 'We've spent the last decade empowering millions of teams to create impactful and engaging visual content,' Mr Obrecht said. 'Now, with MagicBrief joining Canva, we're entering the next frontier by powering the entire content and marketing workflow, from ideation and creation to deployment, measurement, and now analysis and optimisation. 'In today's visual economy, winning brands are those that know exactly what creative works, where it works, and why. 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.' George Howes, co-founder and chief executive of MagicBrief, said the startup would continue to operate independently while its technology and team integrate into Canva. 'We started MagicBrief to give creative teams smarter tools to move faster and make better work,' Mr Howes said. 'Joining Canva takes that vision to the next level — helping us reach more marketers and turn great ideas into high performing creative.' Canva was launched from a Dianella loungeroom in 2013 by Mr Obrecht and now wife Melanie Perkins, who met while she was studying at the University of Western Australia. Now based in Sydney, the private company which has been backed by some of the world top tech investors, has enjoyed exponential growth to more than 240 million monthly users across 190 countries, with annualised revenue of $US3 billion ($4.6b). The company is now reportedly worth almost $49b — putting it ahead of the market capitalisation of big names such as Rio Tinto, Fortescue, Woolworths and Coles. But its founders has remained tight-lipped on a time frame for long-running rumours of a float in the US. A listing would likely bring in fresh capital that could be used for product development and further acquisitions. Mr Obrecht and Ms Perkins were recently placed sixth on the Australian Financial Review's annual list of Australia's richest people, with an estimated combine et worth of $14.1b.
West Australian
6 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Amazon's $20b AI spend in Australia will help seize tech future
Anthony Albanese has said a new $20 billion Amazon deal will help Australia embrace AI, enhance national resilience and drive job creation. The artificial intelligence and data centre agreement was announced by the US tech giant's chief Matt Garman alongside the Prime Minister during his visit to Seattle on Sunday. It will expand Australia's network of data centres to boost AI capabilities and cloud technology. As it stands Amazon Web Services operates three data centre zones across Melbourne and Sydney. Mr Albanese said it would help drive productivity by allowing existing businesses to adopt or accelerate new technology use and give startups confidence to commercialise their ideas. The $20 billion investment over five years by AWS, builds on the $9.1 billion they have injected into Australia since 2012 and is the largest by any tech firm down under. Mr Albanese said it was important to be on the frontfoot of emerging technologies so Australia shaped its own future rather than 'have the future shape us'. 'My government wants to make sure that Australia seizes the opportunities that are presented by AI,' he said. 'It will boost Australia's economic growth, our resilience and our productivity. 'We want to make sure as well that Australians are better prepared to capitalize on the opportunities of AI, while making sure that we secure ourselves against its risks.' Perth-founded graphic design platform Canva, financial institution CommBank, and software company Atlassian have also harnessed AI through AWS. Mr Garman said while AWS has supported Aussie businesses it also helped the Australian National Swimming Team finesse their performance ahead of the Paris Olympics. 'AI is changing everything that we see, from sports to industry to the economy,' he said. Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres on Sunday labelled Amazon's investment as 'very significant' and a 'pointer to the future' for Australia. 'This is absolutely in our economic interest (and) absolutely in our security and broader geopolitical interest in a fast moving and less secure world,' he told Sky News. He said it presented 'an enormous opportunity' for Australia to boost productivity. The PM said the investment comes ahead of his recently announced productivity roundtable which Treasurer Jim Chalmbers will hold in August. Dr Chalmers is expected to reveal more about the summit when he speaks at the National Press Club on Wednesday. Mr Garman said boosting cloud computing technology would be a 'huge gateway' to new business and job creation. 'We estimate that technology over the next decade will drive over $600 billion increases in Australia's GDP out of the year 2030,' Mr Garman said. As part of the investment the tech giant is also expanding their renewables energy investment to help fuel their initiatives. 'We're announcing the creation of three new large solar farms, two in Victoria and one in Queensland. This will add to the eight renewable projects that we already have running in Australia,' Mr Garman said. Mr Garman noted that while the US backs nuclear energy to support AI's power needs, it would consider renewable investments depending on national preferences. While in Seattle, Mr Albanese also addressed key industry players from startups to larger more well-known companies at a technology and business reception. He pitched Australia as a safe and stable base to reach the Indo-Pacific's growing population to American investors. He also stressed the importance of Australia's free trade ties with the US, appearing to lay the groundwork for his upcoming meeting with President Donald Trump at the G7. 'We bring a lot to the table. We will continue to advocate for free and fair trade, for the jobs it creates and the investment it drives,' he said.
