Canoa Appoints Ellie Cunningham as new CEO
Brooklyn, New York - October 24, 2024- Canoa announced today that Ellie Cunningham, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer. Federico Negro, the company’s founder, will continue to focus on building their core product as well as serve on the company’s Board of Directors.
“Having worked with Ellie for over a decade, I know she’s the right leader to take our company into its next stage of growth,” said Federico Negro. “The interior design vertical in particular has always suffered from a lack of innovation in its tooling and has struggled to achieve interoperability across the platforms designers use every day. This system has forced designers to piece together generic software from other industries, and has restricted access to the critical product information they need to complete their projects. We intend to change that.”
Earlier this year, Canoa launched its flagship product, which enables designers to create mood boards, scaled floor plans, and presentations all in one platform. After four years of research and development, the company has built the industry’s most connected and intelligent design tool. Designers leverage Canoa to move from inspiration to specification in one connected workflow.
One of the company’s top priorities is to put designers at the helm of defining how and when AI plays a role in the creative process. “As a designer myself, I understand what is at stake with AI in our industry. In its worst iteration, it replaces the creative workflow. In its best iteration, it lifts us up as an industry and expands our creativity. We continue to build our AI capabilities towards the latter, and we consider this duality with every AI advancement we put into our product,” said the company’s new CEO. Canoa AI is the first AI recommendation engine built for interior designers and was recently awarded a Patent. The Patent is the first to embed a learning algorithm directly inside a CAD application and covers the generation of user-specific recommendations using their own clicks as prompt inputs.
In 2025, Canoa has plans to more than triple their user base and will announce key partnerships with industry-leading brands. “We started Canoa to make design more fun for the professional interior designer. Along the way, we have seen a surge of interest from brands in our industry that are eager to use Canoa to connect to their main customers and showcase their products. Helping bridge the gap between brands and designers by building a more connected ecosystem will be our top priority,” Cunningham explained. “Canoa is quickly becoming the nexus of creativity for the interior design industry–it’s the digital home where designers, brands, and even consumers can meet and collaborate. We fundamentally believe that great design should be accessible to all, and we know that Canoa can answer that calling for the design-obsessed.”
.jpeg)
For press inquiries please contact:
Liz Wert
VP Marketing, Canoa