Canva now bigger than Telstra, Woolies
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 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.
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.
Loading
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 any redundancy program, though its valuation bottomed out at $39 billion in 2022 when key investors Blackbird, Square Peg and Airtree cut its valuation. It was most recently valued at $56 billion earlier this year.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

ABC News
5 hours ago
- ABC News
Are ten storey apartment buildings coming to a street near you?
ADAM HARVEY, REPORTER: This elegant home in Sydney's inner west faded over time. Kerri Kennedy bought it 30 years ago. KERRI KENNEDY: It was definitely the ugly duckling in the street. We kind of lived with that for a good 20-odd years, raised our kids here and then we finally sort of managed to get enough together to give it some love and try to bring it back to the original look. ADAM HARVEY: Restoring it was a labour of love. KERRI KENNEDY: All the bricks that we took down we cleaned and recycled. We did all that ourselves so it was very hands on. The whole family was involved. ADAM HARVEY: Now this part of Marrickville is set to be transformed and the entire street, let alone Kerri's house, is unlikely to survive. KERRI KENNEDY: In the colour coding that the council are using, we're in the red zone, which is the highest residential zoning that they're proposing. So, I think right here would be eight to 12 stories, yeah. ADAM HARVEY: To tackle a shortage of affordable housing, the New South Wales Government is encouraging development by rezoning streets close to transport and shopping areas. In the inner west, the local council has come up with its own plan that's even bigger than the state government's proposal. Mayor Darcy Byrne says it's all about keeping the area affordable. DARCY BYRNE, MAYOR OF INNER WEST COUNCIL: We're seeing an exodus of young people from the inner west. People who've lived here all their lives, who love the place and want to live here into the future but simply can't find a home that they can afford. ADAM HARVEY: Here in Sydney's inner west Jersey Street, Marrickville is at the heart of the changes. Rezoning means that big apartment buildings are coming - around ten stories. And that'll suit some residents because when developers come knocking - and they will - they'll offer as much as double the market value. But for some cash is cold comfort as the reasons they moved here in the first place vanish. KERRI KENNEDY: We're not here to make money, we're here to live. DARCY BYRNE: I tell you what, if the exodus of young people from the inner west continues, we lose the heart and soul of the place. And so, character and heritage, that's not just about buildings, it's about people as well. ADAM HARVEY: That's tough for some of the young families who already live here. Alyce Umback bought her first home here last year. ALICE UMBACK: We've formed a little village of neighbours who care about our family and always make a point of saying hello when you see them on the street. It's just a really lovely close community vibe. ADAM HARVEY: She heard of the proposed rezoning via a pamphlet in her letterbox. ALICE UMBACK: It's like seeing everything you've worked so hard for just dissolve into meaninglessness. We didn't buy this place to get a short term, you know, super high windfall on an investment. We bought it because we wanted to live here for at least a couple of decades, for our kids to go to the local school, to know our neighbours, to form a sense of community. DARCY BYRNE: No one will have to leave, no one will be forced to sell their home. The only thing that will occur is that if people in a rezoned area choose to sell their home in the future, it will be for a higher value. So, a home that was worth $2.5 million before might be worth $3.5 million in the future. ALICE UMBACK: But if you've got a nine storey plus high rise going up right next to your backyard that blocks out all of the sunlight permeation into your home and eliminates any privacy you've got, would you want to live next to it is what I, I just don't think it's for us. ADAM HARVEY: Alyce says increasing housing supply doesn't mean the new homes will be any cheaper. ALICE UMBACK: I'm not against the greater investment in social and affordable housing. Unfortunately, that's not want council is proposing. I think it's 2 per cent dedicated to affordable housing. ADAM HARVEY: The council says it's still working on what proportion of the new homes will be 'not for profit' housing. Planning minister Paul Scully says the scale and speed of the changes is partly because of decades of overly tight restrictions on development. Is this not a way of saying that councils made it too hard for too long? PAUL SCULLY, NSW PLANNING MINISTER: Yes, put simply we didn't build enough homes in New South Wales for a long, long time. In New South Wales we've been building six homes per thousand people for the last few years, the last decade or so. In Queensland and Victoria, they've been building eight and nine. As a result, Sydney has become the second most expensive city on the planet. ADAM HARVEY: The changes are happening across Sydney. A 75-minute drive from Marrickville, in Sydney's Hills district, the commuter carpark for the new metro line fills early. MICHELLE BYRNE, MAYOR OF THE HILLS SHIRE COUNCIL: Usually by 7.30 every morning. Same with every commuter car park across the Hills. So, if you're not there early enough, you're not getting a spot. ADAM HARVEY: And more people are coming – a lot more. MICHELLE BYRNE: It is a TOD. So it's a transport orientated development. So, it's been rezoned for 11,300 units. So, in that one K between the two metros will be at least 23,300 people and that's denser than the middle of the CBD in Sydney. ADAM HARVEY: She says the area just isn't ready. MICHELLE BYRNE: And we've got schools that are crumbling. We've got a primary school that has toilets from the 1950s. We've got a high school that's got 51 demountables. We've got a wi-fi problem. Our schools sporting fields are also at capacity, clubs are turning kids away from playing sports. ADAM HARVEY: Paul Scully says the new homes were always coming and the roads, hospitals and schools will get there, soon. PAUL SCULLY: The Hills is part of the northwest growth area. It's long been identified as an area for future growth, and we've set housing targets on the basis of that continued growth. This is not something that was not ever going to be realised in the Hills. Perhaps it's quicker than the mayor and the council might've liked, but the reality is we're matching that housing growth with investment in the services that those communities need to make up for the infrastructure deficit that we inherited, and the Hills were left by the previous government. ADAM HARVEY: The new zoning rules restrict the ability of councils to block developments. MICHELLE BYRNE: I welcome new housing in the Hills. I want everyone to come and live in the Hills. It's the greatest place on earth, but we need the infrastructure to go with it.

ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Proposed zoning laws across Sydney could see the faces of several suburbs change
Across Sydney, people are discovering that their suburbs are about to change, sometimes beyond recognition. A soup of planning acronyms like LMRs (low-to-mid-rise), TODs (transport oriented development) and SSDs (state significant developments) all mean the same thing: the developers are coming. It's part of the NSW government's goal of building an extra 377,000 homes over five years but for many who have bought properties after battling to enter the housing market, this change is not welcome. Alyce Umback is one of those new home owners. Last July, after three exhausting years, Ms Umback and her partner scraped together the deposit for a 120-year-old cottage in Marrickville, in a quiet street near the train station. Like many first-home buyers, they battled to get into the housing market. "We understand just how much of a hard slog it is, how demoralising it can be, what it's like dealing with agent tactics," she told 7.30. "We wanted to live here for at least a couple of decades for our kids to go to the local school, to know our neighbours, to form a sense of community." But her piece of paradise is set to change. First the state government introduced zoning changes to allow small apartment blocks — and then the local council moved in with even bigger plans. Under that proposal, Jersey Street's one and two-storey homes will make way for apartments from nine to eleven storeys tall. No-one will be forced to sell to developers, but that does not mean those who don't wont be affected. "I just don't think it's for us." Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne says the changes will help retain the area's vibrant character. "Every week we're seeing young people who love the inner-west being forced out by the cost of housing," Mayor Byrne told 7.30. "We're seeing those lines snaking around apartment blocks, hundreds of metres deep for people to get into a rental inspection. "We're already losing people who've grown up in this place and love the place. That's why we need to deliver more homes so that the people who help to build the inner-west can continue to live here." NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully says seeing councils take up the challenge on planning is important. "That's exactly the sort of thing we're encouraging," Mr Scully said. "What we did was raise the bar to a new minimum and said to all of the councils, you can go beyond that with your strategic planning if you wish, and a lot of councils have taken up that challenge." Ms Umback is not against more apartments in her neighbourhood but thinks the changes are out of scale, and won't lead to more affordable housing. "I think it's two per cent dedicated to affordable housing over the next five years and then it might increase to five per cent beyond that point," she said. Mayor Byrne says those figures were guidelines and the affordable housing goals are a work in progress. "We are completing economic modelling about what proportion of not-for-profit housing can be achieved through our plans, with the aim of delivering more than any local government in NSW." "We are also in the process of converting a number of council-owned car parks to not-for-profit housing with the goal of 100 per cent of homes there being council owned." There will be no compulsory acquisitions. "The only thing that will occur is that if people in a rezoned area choose to sell their home in the future, it will be for a higher value. "So a home that was worth $2.5 million before might be worth $3.5 million in the future." That's cold comfort on the other side of Jersey Street, where Kerri Kennedy and her husband are working on a long renovation of their two-storey home. "We're not here to make money," she said, "we're here to live". They have been in Jersey Street for 30 years, and have slowly transformed their house into the street's stand-out building. "We're here to shelter our family, and their families … we've designed the house for multi-generational living," she said. Ms Kennedy says the solution to housing affordability problems isn't just to build huge apartment blocks. "You could have a granny flat out the back but currently the council won't let you do that. There's scope for amalgamating one or two houses onto a block, which could be encouraged," she said. Mr Scully says the scale of the changes follows decades of tight restrictions on development by local councils. "Put simply we didn't build enough homes in NSW for a long, long time," he said. "In NSW we've been building six homes per thousand people for the last few years. The last decade or so in Queensland and Victoria, they've been building eight and nine. As a result, Sydney has become the second-most expensive city on the planet for housing." In Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Central Coast, height restrictions and floor-space ratios have been lifted at hundreds of sites close to train stations, transport corridors and shopping areas. In Sydney's north-west, thousands of new homes will be built in the Hills Shire. Mayor Michelle Byrne says local infrastructure is already not coping. She said the area had planned for 60,000 new residents. "We know there's going to be an extra 141,000 residents by 2041," Dr Byrne said. "So we've got an increase in our population of 71 per cent, which are yet to arrive." She says homes for 23,300 people will be built near two new metro stations. "We've got schools that are crumbling. We've got a primary school that has toilets from the 1950s … our schools and sporting fields are at capacity. "I think the development is happening faster than anyone ever predicted. So the infrastructure can't keep up. But now what we're seeing as well is the unplanned growth on top of the planned growth." "I welcome new housing in the Hills. I want everyone to come and live in the Hills but we need the infrastructure to go with it." Mr Scully says new infrastructure is coming, but it's critical to get started on building new homes. "Perhaps it's quicker than the mayor and the council might've liked, but the reality is we're matching that housing growth with investment in the services that those communities need to make up for the infrastructure deficit that we inherited from the previous government." Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.

Herald Sun
7 hours ago
- Herald Sun
A-League: Kucharski tipped for Perth move after United exit
Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News. Perth Glory are the frontrunners ahead of Adelaide United to sign Jaiden Kucharski after the attacker was released by Western United just six weeks after joining the crisis-torn A-League club. United announced on July 8 that the former Sydney FC forward had signed a two-year deal with the Victorian outfit. However, United has been banned from registering 23-year-old Kucharski after being sanctioned by FIFA from doing so due to a financial dispute between the club and its former championship-winning striker Aleksandar Prijovic. The ban meant Kucharski, as well as club captain Ben Garuccio, who re-signed with United after becoming a free agent, were unable to play in the team's 1-0 Australia Cup round-of-32 loss to Sydney FC last month. Since then United's problems have worsened, with the club having been stripped of its A-League licence by Football Australia on August 8 for failing to meet the criteria required to compete in the national men's and women's competitions. Ex-Sydney FC forward Jaiden Kucharski has been released by Western United. Picture:United's financial woes include a multimillion-dollar tax bill reportedly owed by the club's chairman Jason Sourasis, and players and staff receiving their monthly wages late in April, May and June. The club announced in May that KAM Melbourne, a subsidiary of American company KAM Sports, would become United's new majority investor. However, the Australian Professional Leagues is yet to receive KAM Melbourne's full ownership proposal – understood to be worth $100m when including the purchase of the club's parent company Western Melbourne Group – and therefore cannot approve it. United has until 10am on Thursday to lodge its appeal against being stripped of its licence. In the meantime, United players – who this month were paid ahead of schedule and also received overdue superannuation payments – continue to train despite their futures remaining in limbo. However, Kucharski and United have mutually and 'respectfully' agreed to part ways due mainly to the FIFA registration ban. 'While the club is disappointed with this outcome, we respect the player's decision to pursue his career elsewhere,' United said in a statement. A handful A-League clubs are interested in Kucharski's services, but it's understood the Glory are leading the race, while Adelaide remains in contention. Western Sydney Wanderers have also made inquiries. Newcastle Jets, who were interested in Kucharski before he decided to sign with United, have not yet made another offer for the former Australian under-17 representative. Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay said on Wednesday that a possible Kucharski return to the Sky Blues had been discussed within the club. 'He's one of our boys that have come all the way through the academy,' Talay said. 'We will always have Jaiden back. We'll always provide a platform and an environment for him to come back in, and try to give him that opportunity to take the next step again.' Originally published as Jaiden Kucharski's services in demand after his release from embattled Western United