fbpx
Funding

Canva valuation jumps 23% to $49 billion following share trade

- October 31, 2024 2 MIN READ
Cliff Obrecht, Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams. Photo: supplied
Design platform Canva has seen the company’s valuation soar by nearly a quarter to A$48.7 billion in the latest sale of its shares on the secondary market.

The global business, which is heading to a public listing in the US next year, saw its valuation rise by US$6 billion (A$9.1bn) to hit US$32 billion with the new trades, following a year of secondary share sales at the previous $39 billion valuation, which has been in place for the past two years.

Who sold and who bought them was not disclosed.

The jump delivers a quick $126 million windfall for Sydney investment firm Quadrant Private Equity, which nabbed a $500 million slice of Canva in a secondary sale six months ago.

All up, around US$1.6 billion worth of shares from investors and employees changed hands in secondary sales this year.

It also takes Canva to within spitting distance of its 2021 valuation peak of $54.5 billion before three key investors, local VCs Blackbird, Square Peg and AirTree, agree to lop 36% off that valuation in 2022 amid a broader downturn in the sector.

For perspective, Canva is now worth more than publicly listed telecommunications behemoth Telstra, and oil and gas producer Woodside Energy.

Last week, the design platform launched Dream Lab, its first product following the acquisition of generative AI startup Leonardo.AI, as well as 40-plus upgrades to Canva’s Visual Suite as part of “Droptober“.

“It’s been an extraordinary year for all of us at Canva as we celebrate remarkable growth and increasing demand for our business,” Canva cofounder and COO Cliff Obrecht said.

“We’re really excited to be empowering more than 200 million people in 190 countries with the simplicity, access, and power of our product. While we’re incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made, we’re just getting started and we’re looking forward to a whole lot more to come.”

The business did have a wobble last month when it looked to increase subscription prices by up to 300% before abandoning the plan a few weeks later, the last 12 months have nonetheless seen enterprise revenue triple as the business surpassed US$2.5 billion (A$3.8bn) in annualised revenue and maintained profitability for seven consecutive year.

The company also added 1,000 people to its headcount in 2024.