Canva is getting into the spreadsheet business as the software giant looks to move beyond pretty graphics to workplace productivity tools and take on enterprise software giants like Google.
The 13-year-old design platform’s annual product song and dance show, the fourth Canva Create – this year themed as “Uncharted” – also revealed that annual revenue is up US$500 million on six months ago to US$3 billion thanks to more than 230 million monthly active users.
The business sits above the Rule of 40, the SaaS industry metric for growth with its annual revenue growth already sitting at 44% before the latest update.
Cofounder and CEO Melanie Perkins declared the event their largest product drop yet, headlined by four new features, led by Visual Suite 2.0.
“You asked, with more than one million wishes pouring in every year, and we listened. Every request, idea, and piece of feedback from our global community has helped shape what we’re launching today,” she said.
“Visual Suite 2.0 is packed with your most-wanted features: combine every format in a single design, turn numbers into powerful visual spreadsheets, create faster than ever with Canva AI, and now, bring your ideas to life with code.”
The announcements come just a few weeks after it emerged that Canva had cut 10 technical writing staff from its team amid a put for greater artificial intelligence use.
The event – somewhere between the Oscars, a Jobs-era Apple launch and a Hillsong conference, including a costume change by the three cofounders – took place in Los Angeles overnight, the second consecutive year it’s been held in the US ahead of the company looking to list there.
Perkins was also keen to tout “spreadsheets reimagined” with the imaginatively titled Canva Sheets, as a “a powerful, visual, and creative way to bring your ideas to life”, with lashings of AI sprinkled on top.
It also connects with the rest of Canva’s Visual Suite, with drag-and-drop visual layouts.
“As well as Sheets, we’re also welcoming another new addition to the Visual Suite: Photo Editor,” Perkins said.
“Now you can edit your images right where you’re designing; no need to jump between tools or tabs.”
Canva’s new products also include offering conversational AI as a design prompt and scaling up Magic Studio to deliver automated content creation.
“Today, we’re bringing the power of Canva Sheets and the power of Magic Studio together to help you create at scale,” Perkins said.
“With just a click, you can now “fill empty cells” powered by Magic Write, for custom text at scale.”
Canva’s latest product updates push the business further into the enterprise productivity sector where they’re taking on some of the biggest names in legacy tech.
The business, valued at A$49 billion after a secondary market share sale last year, tried to increase some of its subscription fees by up to 300% in 2024 before backing away from the plan amid widespread blowback.
But as tech companies continue to weave AI, at a growing cost, into their product offerings, Canva has been increasing its charges, and now hopes it latest product launches justify the cost.
You can watch Perkins and her cofounders, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, deliver the announcements here.
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