Canva valuation soars to nearly $49 billion after fresh secondary sale
The value of Australian design titan Canva has surged more than 20% to $48.7 billion, after a secondary share sale underlined investor interest.
The value of Australian design titan Canva has surged more than 20% to $48.7 billion, after a secondary share sale underlined investor interest.
On Thursday, Canva said new transactions involving an undisclosed number of shares established the venture’s new valuation at nearly $50 billion, up from its purported $38.5 billion valuation in January.
Its statement closely follows news Canva has cracked 200 million users worldwide, a serious sign of intent ahead of its long-awaited IPO.
Canva has had “an extraordinary year”, co-founder Cliff Obrecht said in a statement.
“While we’re incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made, we’re just getting started and we’re looking forward to a whole lot more to come,” he continued.
The Australian Financial Review, which recently shared its annual Young Rich List, estimates the share sale has bolstered the personal fortune of married co-founders Obrecht and Melanie Perkins by $1 billion.
Although the fresh valuation suggests Canva is now worth more than ASX-listed giants like Telstra on a market capitalisation basis, it is not technically a high point for the venture.
Before post-pandemic jitters and a tightening economic environment shook the tech sector, Canva commanded a projected valuation of $55 billion in 2021.
The valuation — and the suite of features it unveiled last month, including a new generative AI tool built on its Leonardo.ai acquisition — seems to bring Canva one step closer to a public listing.
But the venture has not established a concrete timeframe, with Obrecht telling The Australian the team is willing to bide its time.
