Canva is no ordinary success story. It’s a $39 billion unicorn with its heart in the right place.
Founded by Melanie Perkins, her (now) husband, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams in January 2013, Canva has evolved from a side hustle in a family living room into one of the world’s leading design platforms.
As a family-led business, the couple’s personal connection runs through everything Canva does, from their focus on people and culture to their philanthropic ambitions.
And that dream goes beyond business growth. The couple put their money where their mouth is with initiatives like the 1% pledge and promise to give their fortune away reflecting their passion for giving back on a global scale.
“We’ve got a two-step plan: to build one of the world’s most valuable companies and do the most good we can,” Perkins told SXSW Sydney today in conversation with US investor Mary Meeker.
From Perth lounge room to Silicon Valley
Entrepreneurship came to Perkins at an early age. While still in high school, she designed and sold handmade scarves to local boutiques.
“I’d get some fabric, cut it, make the ends curly, and then nervously call up women’s boutiques around Perth,” she recalls.
“My mum would kindly take me to the shops to sell them on consignment, which was pretty cool.”
Canva CEO Melanie Perkins in 2016
This early foray into a business gave her a taste for entrepreneurship, but it wasn’t until she started uni that it really began to take shape. While studying at the University of Western Australia, she tutored students in Photoshop and InDesign, quickly realising how complicated design software could be.
“It would take a whole semester for people just to learn where the buttons were,” she explains. “Design shouldn’t be that hard.”
An idea began germinating. But it wasn’t until she saw her mum spending 100s of hours struggling to assemble a high school yearbook that the light bulb moment happened.
Enlisting Cliff’s help, she sketched out the wireframe for Fusion Books, an online platform that made it easy for schools to design yearbooks. It was a digital business in an analogue world.
“We started Fusion Books in my mum’s living room,” Perkins says.
“It was our printing press, paper delivery station, and office all rolled into one.”
Those scrappy beginnings laid the foundation for something much bigger. Even then, the couple knew they were building more than a small business.
“We always knew Fusion Books was just the start—we were testing an idea that could go global,” she said.
Over several years, Fusion Books scaled to become the leading yearbook publisher in Australia, but the duo had their sights set on something bigger. She set off for Silicon Valley to pitch the idea that would become Canva.
Making crazy big goals happen
Perkins says that the first trip to Silicon Valley was met with more rejection than success.
“We went to Silicon Valley thinking it would be amazing, but we came back without a single investor,” she admits.
“It was tough—there were so many points where people told us no, and it felt like it wasn’t going to happen.”
However, her resilience and belief in the idea never wavered. She kept pitching and refining Canva’s vision.
“Every time we were rejected by an investor we would go through and refine the pitch deck again,” Perkins recalls.
“We knew we had to keep going—we believed in what we were building. It was just a matter of finding people who believed in it, too.
That perseverance paid off. She secured backing from influential investors: US VC Bill Tai, Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman and the creator of Google Maps, Lars Rasmussen.
“It was really about persistence and learning from every meeting,” Perkins explains. “Every time someone said no, we tried to figure out what we could do better next time.”
Rasmussen played another important role – connecting the duo with their cofounder, Cameron Adams.
“He was introduced through Lars, and he had created this incredible product called Fluent, which I thought was incredibly beautiful,” Perkins recalled.
“And I was like, we would be so strong if we could join forces together. He said no, actually. And then eventually, he said yes, and then joined us. So it was extraordinarily exciting to get to work with him”
That determination also secured a $2 million Seed investment from Commercialisation Australia, which was the starting point to Canva.
“It wasn’t capital that needed to be repaid. And it really meant that we were able to base ourselves here in Australia,” she said.
A design-first approach
Since Canva was born out of Perkins’ frustration with existing design tools —”it took a whole semester just to teach students where the buttons were! Design shouldn’t be that hard” they wanted to make it as intuitive and accessible as possible, whether you’re a design pro or absolute beginner.
“We wanted to make it as simple as possible. The goal was always to make design accessible to everyone, no matter their experience. From the very beginning, we thought—how can we remove every possible barrier and make it easy for anyone to create something beautiful?” Perkins said.
“At Canva, one of our core values is to set crazy big goals and make them happen. It’s not just about dreaming—we strategise every step to make it a reality.”
Cliff Obrecht, Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams back in Canva’s early days in 2014. Photo: supplied
People and culture make a startup
While many tech companies focus on rapid growth, Canva initially prioritised culture.
“We believe in competing with the world, not with each other,” Perkins said.
“That’s been a critical part of our philosophy—everyone should be working to grow the pie, not just grab their slice.”
Canva also emphasises flexibility and wellbeing. Employees are encouraged to work from wherever they feel most comfortable, with beautiful office campuses available for in-person collaboration. Perkins reflects on the importance of maintaining mental health, particularly as a founder.
“Letters to myself have been an essential tool. During tough moments, I’d write pep talks to remind myself why I’m doing this and what’s possible,” she says.
The focus on people extends beyond the office walls. Perkins is deeply passionate about education, believing that high-quality learning should be accessible everyone. To this end, Canva offers free tools for students and teachers, empowering millions worldwide.
“It’s not just about growing a business—it’s about making a real impact,” Perkins smiles.
“What’s really exciting is seeing Canva being used in classrooms all over the world. Teachers and students are using it to create everything from posters to presentations—things that would’ve taken hours or required expensive software are now simple and accessible to everyone.”
Making design simple
From day one, Canva was designed to be global.
“Our mission is to empower the world to design,” Perkins said.
“We knew that meant being available in every language and accessible to every community.”
Today, Canva operates in over 100 languages and is used by millions—from social media marketers to students in refugee camps.
This global reach wasn’t by chance; it was intentional.
“We launched with the goal of making design easy and collaborative, no matter where you are,” Perkins explains.
The platform’s user-friendly features, like drag-and-drop tools and a vast template library, have been instrumental in this success.
“It’s amazing to see how people who never considered themselves creative now feel empowered to design”
More than 170 million users globally later, Perkins insists they’re just getting started.
- The author was a guest of SXSW Sydney, October 14-20. Check out the full schedule of events here.
- This story first appeared on Kochie’s Business Builders. You can read the original here.
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