Canva boss Melanie Perkins is talking to legendary US investor Mary Meeker at SXSW

Canva’s billionaire CEO and cofounder Melanie Perkins will kick off the conversations at South by Southwest Sydney (SXSW) next month, sitting down with one of the smartest minds in US venture capital, BOND’s Mary Meeker, to talk about her success.

The duo will take the SXSW Sydney stage on Monday, October 14, to discuss Canva’s evolution from an idea to a global phenomenon worth $39 billion private company in just a decade.

Meeker is the founder of BOND, and a Canva investor. Dubbed the “Queen of the Internet” for her annual analysis of tech trends, she’s invested in a who’s who of global tech, including fellow Australian startup Eucalyptus.

After a four year hiatus, she recently released a report on AI and universities.

Mary Meeker

“Universities will find that AI can be a market share tailwind or a headwind—some will rise to the occasion, others will not,” she wrote.

Meeker will undoubtedly bring that analytical lens to her conversation with Perkins, especially as Canva invests in AI, at SXSW.

“Canva’s focus on visual content and its steady and impressive product improvements have resulted in tremendous growth and long-term adoption by companies, schools and individuals,” said Mary Meeker, of BOND.

“I look forward to discussing how Melanie and her team have gotten to where they are and how they are using AI and other technological advancements to drive the company forward.”

Canva has also signed on as the sponsor of the Design track of SXSW Sydney and Canva offering presenters at the week-long event the chance to use the platform for their presentations. primary presentation tool.

SXSW Sydney keynote presentations run October 14-18, but to see and hear them, you’ll need to fork out $1,195 for a “badge” to the tech and innovation thread of the event. Or go the whole hog with a $1900 Platinum Badge for access to the Conference, Tech & Innovation Expo, and Music, Screen and Games Festivals across seven days.

For more see sxswsydney.com/attend.

And don’t forget to download the SXSW Sydney app to build your schedule, since Skip’s Liv Grivas is probably busy investing and won’t have time to load this year’s program into an excel spreadsheet.