Canva cracks top 5 in CNBC's Disruptor 50 list for the best companies changing the world

Australian design giant Canva has made its debut on the annual CNBC Disruptor 50, a list of fast-growing, innovative private startups harnessing breakthrough technology.

Even more remarkably, Canva was listed at no. 4, behind Flexport, Brex and Lineage Logistics, and ahead of the likes of Guild Education, Convoy Blockchain.com, Stripe, Dapper Labs and Pony.ai, which all featured in the top 10.

The 50 companies on the 2022 list have a combined valuation of more than US$552 billion, making it by far the highest-valued list in the 10-year history of the Disruptor 50.

At least 14 of the companies on the list are worth more than $10 billion, including Canva. CNBC said most of the 2022 list is made up of companies that have earned a spot for just the first or second time.

“This is a sign of a generational shift in the Disruptor 50 to a new group of mission-driven startups born in an era of social and political upheaval among mostly favourable market conditions, but now face the possibility of a recession and the potential for a much longer road to the public markets,” the media company said announcing the list

Praising Canva, the judges singled out that the Canva community to grow to more than 75 million monthly customers worldwide and is available in 100 languages. Last year, Canva acquired two European start-ups, visual AI platform Kaleido in Austria and product mockup generator SmartMockups in the Czech Republic.

Last September the 12-year-old business raised US$200 million at a US$40 billion valuation.

“At this rate, this upstart stands to disrupt some traditional big players. Think well-established Adobe, which grew up during the dotcom era, and offers full-scale design subscriptions and packages,” CNBC said.

“Canva is nimble, priding itself on being profitable and it was on pace to reach a $1 billion annualised revenue run rate in late 2021. Canva has expanded to 2,500 employees, with 1,350 starting last year, including in the US, a base for 100 staffers.”

A Canva spokesperson said the company was grateful for CNBC’s recognition.

“We’re excited to continue innovating and disrupting for years to come,” they said.

“We’ve got a crazy big goal to empower the whole world to design, and to do the most good we can while we’re at it. We’re truly only 1% of the way there!