In this guide, we'll review everything you need to know about the Canva IPO, including:
- Canva IPO: Overview
- What is Canva?
- When will Canva IPO?
- History of Canva
- Canva CEO & Leadership Team
- Canva Employee Growth
- Canva Investors & Funding History
- Canva Users & Paying Customers
- Canva Website Visitors & Designs
- Canva App Store Downloads
- Similar Companies to Canva
The research for this IPO review was partially done by our fine-tuned GPT-3 enabled IPO assistant, which you can learn more about here.
Canva IPO: Overview
- Canva is a graphic design software provider that has seen remarkable growth since reached unicorn status (i.e. $1 billion+ valuation) in 2018.
- In 2019, it raised venture capital funding at a $2.5 billion valuation
- In 2020, its raised another VC round at a valuation $6 billion.
- By the end of 2021, Canva was valued at a whopping $40 billion, however, as of July 2022, (like many other tech companies) its valuation had decreased to $26 billion.
- In order to reach the next level of growth, Canva will most likely have to go public and IPO.
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What is Canva?
Canva is a design and publishing platform that provides an incredibly user-friendly set of design tools for both professional and non-professional designers. It combines a drag-and-drop design (WYSIWYG) with a comprehensive library of stock photos, fonts, and so on.
It has also created similar products to Google Docs, Microsoft’s PowerPoint and various video editors, as well as the ability to create website. Recently, Canva announced it’s rolling out Canva Docs, as well as Magic Write, an AI-powered copywriting assistant.
When will Canva IPO?
Canva has not yet announced a date for its initial public offering (IPO). However, the company has likely been preparing for an IPO for some time.
As AFR highlights, Canva has been profitable and has $US700 million in cash reserves, which it can use to drive growth ahead of its public listing. It also means they're in no rush to IPO so they may end up waiting until the global macro market looks more favorable.
This indicates that Canva is in a strong position to potentially go public in the second half of 2023 or early 2024, although no official plans have been announced yet.
Canva CEO & Leadership Team
Canva was founded in 2012 by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams:
- Melanie Perkins is the CEO
- Cliff Obrecht is the COO and is responsible for the company’s operations, product, and engineering teams.
- Cameron Adams is the Chief Product Officer and is responsible for the company’s technology and product development.
The company also has a Board of Directors, which includes the three co-founders, as well as other experienced business leaders.
Canva Employee Growth
Canva currently has 6000+ employees as reported on LinkedIn.
This is a major increase from the 700 employees the company had in 2019. 2020 was a big year for employee growth as they ramped up and hired 1350 new people, crossing the 2,000-employee mark.
This employee growth is also reflected in the company’s user base, which has grown from 1.5 million in 2016 to over 100 million+ in October 2022.
Canva Investors & Funding History
Canva currently has 35 investors, including T. Rowe Price and Franklin Templeton Investments.
In 2021, Canva closed its last funding round, which was a Venture Round that valued Canva at $40 billion.
With the aforementioned cash reserves of $US700 million, Canva is well-positioned to drive (or buy) growth ahead of its public listing.
Canva Users & Paying Customers
Canva currently has over 100 million+ users in over 190 countries.
Of these users, over 500,000 are paying for the paid plans, representing a 0.5% conversion rate from free monthly users to paid. This is a significant increase from the 1.5 million users in 2016, and the 750,000 users in 2014.
Canva has seen also seen remarkable growth in revenue since 2016, with revenue going from roughly:
- $23.5 million in 2016-2017
- $291 million in 2019
- $1 billion+ in 2021
Canva Website Visitors & Designs Created
Canva has over 300 million website visits per month, across all their services. This is a significant increase from the reported 1.5 million users in 2016.
Canva also reported that over 6 million designs are created in a single day, which is a testament to its popularity and success.
Canva App Store Downloads
Canva has over 100 million app downloads from the Google Play Store. This is an impressive number, considering the app was only released in 2014.
In the 8+ years since its release, Canva has seen a steady increase in downloads, with the number of users rising from 750,000 in 2014 to over 100 million in 2021.
This is a testament to the user-friendliness of the app as they have an average rating of 4.7.
Similar Companies to Canva
A few similar companies and potential competitors to Canva include Minted, Bulb, and Sketch:
- Minted is a design marketplace that offers a variety of products such as cards, wall art, and home decor.
- Bulb is a design platform that helps users create websites and digital products.
- Sketch is a design and prototyping tool that lets users create interactive designs for websites, apps, and more.
All of these companies offer similar services to Canva, such as design tools, stock libraries, and drag-and-drop design tools. However, Canva stands out from the competition due to its user-friendly interface and global brand recognition.
Summary: Canva IPO
Canva is a currently the leader in non-professional graphic design software that has experienced tremendous success since its inception in 2012.
Specifcally, Canva's valuation reached $40 billion by the end of 2021, up from $1 billion in 2018. Like many other tech companies, however, it has seen it's valuation decline to $26 billion by July 2022.
To unlock the next level of growth and continue dominating the graphic design market, Canva will likely be considering going public in the near future.
