Canva — Net Worth and Career Earnings
Canva confirmed $4 billion in annual recurring revenue in February 2026, reported by co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht at Web Summit Qatar — making it one of the most valuable private SaaS companies in the world and the most compelling IPO candidate of 2026. The Australian design platform has been profitable for eight consecutive years, growing at 35% year-on-year with 265 million monthly active users across 190 countries. A Nasdaq IPO is expected in the second half of 2026 at a valuation estimated between $42 billion and $100 billion depending on market conditions and comparable multiples.
Founded in 2012 in Perth, Western Australia by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, Canva was initially rejected by over 100 investors before raising its first capital. The pitch — democratising professional design for people without design skills — seemed obvious in retrospect but was dismissed as too consumer-oriented by Silicon Valley investors focused on enterprise software. Canva's product-led growth model, where free users discover the product and convert to paid plans, has generated 90% organic growth with minimal sales and marketing spend relative to its revenue scale.
The $42 billion valuation represents a 12.7x ARR multiple — modest by comparison to Figma, which IPO'd in July 2025 at 56x revenue before a 250% first-day pop. Canva generates 4x more revenue than Figma at a 3.4x lower multiple, a discrepancy that public market investors are expected to close aggressively on its IPO day. Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht (who married in 2021) would become Australia's wealthiest individuals if the IPO prices at expected levels. Canva acquired Leonardo AI for $370 million to build proprietary AI models, and its AI tools now drive 800 million monthly interactions.