Canva now bigger than Telstra, Woolies
By David Swan
Sydney-based software powerhouse Canva has kicked off an employee share sale valuing the company at an all-time high of $65 billion, making it more valuable than corporate heavyweights Telstra, Woodside and Woolworths.
Canva has made billionaires out of its co-founders, and the share sale is set to make some of its 5000-plus employees – referred to as “Canvanauts” – instant millionaires.
Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht – now one of Australia’s richest people, worth an estimated $9 billion – said more than 240 million people now used Canva’s products every month globally.
Canva founders Cliff Obrecht (left), Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams.Credit: Louie Douvis
Canva was founded in Perth 11 years ago as a small, more fun rival to design software products such as Adobe Photoshop, and has since grown into one of the most widely used platforms on the internet, with schools, businesses and individuals using it to create everything from marketing designs to birthday invitations.
Executives have spent the past two years positioning Canva as a key player in the generative AI arms race, making acquisitions including Australia’s most-hyped AI start-up Leonardo.ai for a reported $320 million, and marketing tech start-up MagicBrief for a reported $10 million. Canva’s AI tools have been used more than 20 billion times to date, making it one of the fastest-growing AI firms globally. By some metrics, it’s the fastest-growing enterprise in Australian history.
Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht leaves lunch at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025 in Idaho.Credit: Getty Images
Obrecht co-founded Canva with now-wife Melanie Perkins and former Google employee Cameron Adams, and the company is now one of Australia’s most valuable. Unlike many of its peers in the software sector, Canva is profitable and has been for the past eight years, raking in $US3.3 billion ($4.6 billion) in revenue annually.
Canva’s valuation has see-sawed moderately over the past few years amid a global “tech wreck” that tore through company valuations and forced many into lay-offs, but the company has maintained its position as one of the darlings of the local sector. Canva continued to hire and avoided redundancy programs, though its valuation bottomed out at $39 billion in 2022 when key investors Blackbird, Square Peg and Airtree cut it. It was most recently valued at $56 billion earlier this year.
Obrecht said the transaction is open to current and former Canva employees, allowing them to cash in their equity to investors. When workers join a tech start-up, they are commonly offered direct shares or stock options as part of their compensation. Those shares are usually illiquid and can’t easily be sold.
“This round has been significantly oversubscribed, which is a huge testament to the incredible work of our team and the impact Canva is having around the world,” Obrecht said in a statement.
“The overwhelming demand from both new and existing investors is a huge vote of confidence in our momentum and the scale of what still lies ahead. We really do believe we’re just 1 per cent of the way there, and that the best is yet to come.”
Canva’s investors have said the company represents a “once in 100 years” success story for Australia; its co-founders have said they intend to give all their wealth away.
“I think with running such a large company with such a significant valuation now, it’s an obligation on us to use that to be a force for good and make the world a better place, rather than just hoard shit,” Obrecht said in a previous interview.
“There’s only so many beds you can sleep in on any one night, and only so many steak dinners you can have.”
Paul Bassat, the co-founder and partner of major investor Square Peg, said Canva represented one of technology’s most remarkable success stories globally.
Square Peg partner Paul Bassat.Credit: Oscar Colman
“In just over a decade, the company has transformed from a local Australian start-up into a global powerhouse and one of the world’s leading software businesses,” he said.
“We’re thrilled to see that through this tender offer process, Canva’s current and former employees, who’ve helped drive Canva’s growth, can now share in the value they helped create.”
The round is being led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, an existing shareholder, while US equity group J.P. Morgan Asset Management is joining as a new investor.
“Identifying companies that can provide investors with pivotal exposure to breakthrough work in AI is an important pillar of our research in active management,” said Felise Agranoff, portfolio manager at J.P.Morgan Asset Management.
“We believe that Canva stands out in the design sector and can help create long-term value for investors.”
A likely 2026 stock exchange listing is now looming for Canva, which would be one of the most significant events in Australian technology history. Obrecht previously said a public listing would probably be on the Nasdaq, in the US, rather than the ASX.
Canva took some of its first steps towards an IPO (initial public offering) this year when it set up a parent company based in the US state of Delaware, following a path taken by earlier tech success Atlassian, which also listed on the Nasdaq. That move upset some staff, however, given the change meant equity holders would have large tax bills to pay to the Australian Taxation Office in October. For some staff, it meant a tax bill of more than $1 million.
An email to staff, first reported by The Australian Financial Review, said the move was “in line with international best practices” and “sets us up for long-term success, including preparing for a future IPO”.
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