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Web18 appoints CEOs for Moneycontrol and ibnlive
MUMABI: Web18, the digital content arm of Network18, has decentralised its operating structure built around key strategic business units by assigning new responsibilities to Joyson Thomas and Rajan Srinivasan.
Thomas, who was earlier the COO at Web18, has now been entrusted the charge of leading Moneycontrol.com as CEO, while Srinivasan, who was serving as the sales and marketing head at Web18, will now take over the CEO of ibnlive.com.
Web18 CEO Lakshmi Narasimhan said “At Web18, we have built some world-class digital brands which enjoy deep engagement across communities and stakeholders. We are now well-positioned to scale-up our leadership and this move is essential to achieving that objective. Moneycontrol has been central to our growth story and Joyson has been a force behind it since the beginning. His expertise will be critical in taking it to yet another benchmark in the financial space. Rajan has ably led our monetization and brand building effort and we‘re confident that he will now steer the ibnlive and digital news operations based in Delhi onto new successes”
On his new role Thomas said “It‘s been a momentous journey so far and my experience with Moneycontrol has been intense and enriching over the years. I hope to bring it to bear as we thrust ahead and further strengthen its leadership. I look forward to working with the team to ensure we add new dimensions to Moneycontrol‘s growth path”
“ibnlive has led from the front as general news has rapidly evolved in the context of social media and mobile growth. The brand is at a very exciting juncture in its journey and I look forward to working with the team to ensure we succeed on all fronts,” Srinivas added.
Thomas has over two decades of experience in the financial media and advisory space. He was one of the founding members of the Moneycontrol team and has managed a variety of product and technology mandates at Web18 since 1999.
Meanwhile, Srinivasan has eighteen years of experience in the media industry, including nine in the digital space. Prior to joining Network18 in 2003, he had stints with the Indian Express, Sony Entertainment Television and BBC World.
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Canva acquires animation and AI startups Cavalry and MangoAI
The deals strengthen Canva’s push into enterprise and AI-led design workflows
AUSTRALIA: Global visual communication platform Canva has stepped up its acquisition drive, buying UK-based 2D animation platform Cavalry and US-based AI startup MangoAI to deepen its AI-powered creative stack.
Cavalry, whose tools are used by brands including Amazon, Meta, Google and Netflix, will strengthen Canva’s motion design capabilities. The deal builds on Canva’s 2024 acquisition of Affinity, which has crossed four million downloads since launch. With Cavalry, Canva now counts seven Europe-based acquisitions, underscoring its global expansion strategy.
MangoAI, an early-stage startup focused on video advertising optimisation, will integrate its reinforcement learning systems into Canva AI. The move aims to enable brands to generate personalised marketing content in real time, cutting production cycles while improving campaign performance. MangoAI co-founder Vinith Misra will join Canva as reinforcement learning lead in its research lab.
Canva co-founder and chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht said the acquisitions reflect the company’s ambition to make professional-grade creative tools more accessible without sidelining human creativity. The goal, he said, is to bring everything from vector to motion design into a single, integrated suite.
The company now reports 265 million active users, including 31 million paid subscribers, and $4 billion in annualised revenue, up 36 per cent year on year. The latest buys further position Canva against rivals such as Adobe and Apple’s Creator Studio as it pushes deeper into enterprise workflows.
Canva head of pro design marketing Liam Fisher, said AI is intended to act as a creative assistant rather than a replacement, reinforcing the primacy of craft and individual design judgement.
