Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Canva
Online graphic design platform From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Canva is an Australian multinational proprietary software company that offers a graphic design platform to create visual content for presentations, websites, and similar.[6][7][8] Launched in Australia in 2013, the service offers design tools for individuals and companies.[9][10] Its offerings include templates for presentations, posters, and social media content, as well as photo and video editing functionality.
 | This article contains promotional content. (July 2025) |
The platform uses a drag-and-drop interface designed for users without professional design training. Canva operates on a freemium model and has added features such as print services and video editing tools over time.
Remove ads
History
Summarize
Perspective
2012–2020
Canva was founded in Perth, Australia, by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams on 1 January 2013. One of the companies' early investors included Susan Wu, an American entrepreneur.[11] In its first year, Canva had more than 750,000 users.[12] In 2017, the company reached profitability and had 294,000 paying customers.[13]
In January 2018, Perkins announced that the company had raised A$40 million from Sequoia Capital, Blackbird Ventures, and Felicis Ventures, and the company was valued at A$1 billion.[14][15][13] Australian superannuation funds Hostplus and Aware Super are known to be investors.[16]
In May 2019, the company raised another round of funding of A$70 million from General Catalyst and Bond and its existing investors Blackbird Ventures and Felicis Ventures, valuing Canva at A$2.5 billion.[17] In October of that year, Canva announced that it had raised an additional A$85 million at a valuation of A$3.2 billion and launched an enterprise product.[18]
In December 2019, Canva announced Canva for Education, a free product for schools and other educational institutions intended to facilitate collaboration between students and teachers.[19]
2021–2025
In June 2020, Canva announced a partnership with FedEx Office[20] and with Office Depot the following month.[21] As of June 2020[update], Canva's valuation had risen to A$6 billion, rising to A$40 billion by September 2021.[22][23] In September 2021, Canva raised US$200 million, with its value peaking that year at US$40 billion.[24][25] By September 2022, the valuation of the company had leveled at US$26 billion.[26] While Canva's value declined from its 2021 peak by mid-2022, it remained one of Australia's most prominent technology companies, alongside Atlassian.[16][27] In March 2022, Canva had over 75 million monthly active users.[28]
The company's co-founders, Perkins and Obrecht, have publicly stated their intention to donate a significant portion of their personal wealth.[29] In 2023, the pair were named in the Australian Financial Review's AFR Rich List as among the 10 most wealthy people in Australia.[30]
On 7 December 2022, Canva launched Magic Write, which is the platform’s AI-powered copywriting assistant.[31] On 22 March 2023, Canva announced its new Assistant tool, which makes recommendations on graphics and styles that match the user's existing design.[32] On 11 January 2024, Canva launched its own GPT in OpenAI's GPT Store.[33]
In March 2024, Canva finalised a share sale at a flat valuation of US$26 billion (A$39.4 billion) for the company, with buyers wanting US$2.4 billion (A$3.6 billion) in shares but purchasing about US$1.6 billion (A$2.4 billion) in that tranche.[34]
The company has announced it intends to compete with Google and Microsoft in the office software category with website and whiteboard products.[26]
In May 2024, the company announced the launch of Canva Enterprise, a plan designed for large organisations, alongside new tools including Work Kits, Courses and AI capabilities.[35] In 2024, they announced a co-funded solar energy project to enhance its sustainability efforts.[36]
In 2024, Canva introduced a redesigned interface and updated features during its Canva Create event. A limited beta release preceded the broader rollout.[37]
On 10 April 2025, Canva released Visual Suite 2, an updated interface with additional features.
- Canva Sheets: A new sheet with graphics, drop-down menus, and multi-person editing capabilities. It also introduced a suite of new AI features like Magic Insights and Formulas[38][promotion?]
- Magic Studio (in combination with Canva Sheets): "Fill Empty Cells" powered by magic write, enabling users to auto-fill cells based on their other data; Translate, enabling multi-lingual communication and sharing; Bulk Create, allowing users to create posts and designs in batches for deadlines or social media;[promotion?]
- Magic Charts: Integrated, AI-powered charts created based on data, recommending charts, and colour palettes[promotion?]
- Updated Canva AI: Design, giving users the ability to create new designs from select graphics, images, and colour palettes, with specific prompts; Code, to create interactive designs and websites.[promotion?]
- Updated Photo Editor: An AI-powered photo editor that allows users to change colours without heavily-edited appearances.[promotion?]
Data breach
In May 2019, Canva experienced a data breach in which the data of roughly 139 million users was exposed.[39] The exposed data included real names of users, usernames, email addresses, geographical information, and password hashes for some users.[40] Later in January 2020, approximately 4 million user passwords were decrypted and shared online.[41] Canva responded by resetting the passwords of every user who had not changed their password since the initial breach.
Acquisitions
In 2018, the company acquired presentations startup Zeetings for an undisclosed amount, as part of its expansion into the presentations space.[42]
In May 2019, the company announced the acquisitions of Pixabay and Pexels, two free stock photography sites based in Germany, which enabled Canva users to access their photos for designs.[43]
In February 2021, Canva acquired Austrian startup Kaleido.ai and the Czech-based Smartmockups.[44]
In 2022, Canva acquired Flourish, a London-based data visualization startup.[45]
In March 2024, Canva acquired UK-based Serif, the developers of the Affinity suite of graphic design software, for approximately $380 million.[46][47]
In August 2024, Canva acquired AI image generation platform and startup, Leonardo, for an undisclosed amount.[48]
In June 2025, it was announced that Canva had acquired Australian AI marketing startup MagicBrief for an undisclosed amount.[49]
Remove ads
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads