Leonardo.Ai is a global artificial intelligence company that develops generative AI software for image and video creation. In 2024, Leonardo.Ai was acquired by Canva.[1][2]
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | artificial intelligence, software |
| Founded | December 2022 |
| Headquarters | Sydney, New South Wales Australia |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | JJ Fiasson (CEO), Christopher Gillis, Jachin Bhasme, Peter Runham, Sami Ede, Ethan Smith |
| Products | generative AI platform for image and video generation |
Number of employees | 200+ (2024) |
| Parent | Canva (acquired 2024) |
| Website | leonardo |
History
editLeonardo.Ai was founded in December 2022 in Sydney by JJ Fiasson, Christopher Gillis, Jachin Bhasme, Peter Runham, Sami Ede, and Ethan Smith.[3][4]
Leonardo.Ai develops and maintains generative AI models and tools designed for creative workflows. In October 2023, the company raised A$47 million (approximately US$31 million) in Series A funding, with investors including Blackbird Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Smash Capital, TIRTA Ventures, Gaorong Capital, and Samsung Next.[5][6]
In April 2024, it launched Leonardo for Teams, an enterprise solution for secure content production and collaboration, and in June introduced Phoenix, its first in-house foundational model. By the end of the year, the platform had more than 29 million users worldwide, according to Forbes Australia.[7][8][9][10][11]
The company was included in the Forbes 2024 AI 50 list. In the same year, CEO JJ Fiasson received the Australian Financial Review's AI Trailblazer award and was recognized among Australia's Top 100 Young Entrepreneurs.[12][13][14]
In August 2025, Lucid Origin, an advanced text-to-image model developed by Leonardo AI, was officially launched, offering full-HD output.[15] In the same year, it was ranked #7 on the “Text-to-Image” leaderboard by Artificial Analysis.[16]
Products and services
editLeonardo.Ai's core platform allows users to generate images, illustrations, and photorealistic visuals from text prompts. Features include Realtime Canvas, which transforms sketches into AI-generated images in real time, and Motion, which animates static images into short videos.[17][18] The platform supports custom AI model training on user-specific datasets for consistent outputs.[19][20] It also incorporates some of the latest artificial intelligence models, such as Google's Veo 3 for video generation, alongside its suite of image creation, motion, and editing tools for both individual and enterprise users.[21]
References
edit- ^ "Australian startup Generates 700m AI Images". Drastic News. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Weatherbed, Jess (30 July 2024). "Canva adds a new generative AI platform to its growing creative empire". The Verge. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Pandey, Mohit (30 July 2024). "Leonardo.Ai - Why Canva Acquired it?". Analytics India Magazine. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Thomsen, Simon (30 July 2024). "Canva prompts takeover of hot generative AI startup Leonardo.AI". Startup Daily. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Jones, Tegan (7 December 2023). "Leonardo.Ai raises $47 million after broadening its AI image generation for video games". SmartCompany. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Thomsen, Simon (6 December 2023). "Blackbird backs generative AI startup Leonardo.Ai in $47 million raise". Startup Daily. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Dart, Cameron (9 April 2024). "Australian AI startup Leonardo.Ai launches Leonardo for Teams". In AI Today. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ "Leonardo.Ai unveils enterprise offering, aiming to transform creative process with GenAI". Mi3. 10 April 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Keating, Eloise (10 April 2024). "Leonardo.Ai targets businesses with Teams launch after doubling user base to 15 million". SmartCompany. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Van Boom, Daniel (17 June 2024). "Leonardo.Ai is rolling out Australia's first major foundation model". Capital Brief. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Field, Shivaune (13 January 2025). "Leonardo.AI founder JJ Fiasson on Flow State, Phoenix and Google Cloud". Forbes Australia. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ "Forbes Top 50 AI 2024 database". Forbes Top 50 AI 2024 database. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ McGuire, Amelia (2 June 2025). "The winner of the AFR's AI Trailblazer award talks life under Canva". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Ogg, Matt; Dedovic, Amila; Jansen, Camilla (8 April 2024). "2024 Australia's Top 100 Young Entrepreneurs 21-30". Business News Australia. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Saha, Raunak (1 September 2025). "Meet Lucid Origin: Leonardo's Hyper-Realistic AI Model". TechnoSports. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ "Leaderboard — Text-to-Image". ArtificialAnalysis.ai. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
- ^ "Leonardo AI Motion Now Available with Impressive Image to Video Capabilities". AI Art Kingdom. 25 December 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ "Transform Static Images into Dynamic Videos with Leonardo AI's Image to Motion Feature". Toolify.ai. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ "Leonardo.Ai – Best AI Image Generator & Prompt‑Based Art Tool in 2025". AIToolInsight. 4 August 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Kling, Joakim (12 June 2025). "Leonardo AI Review 2025: Is It Still a Top AI Image Generator". Digiarty. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ "Canva adds AI video generation with audio, powered by Google's Veo 3 model; to acquire MagicBrief". Medianews4u. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.