@bloombergoriginals Since it began 10 years ago, #Canva has grown into one of the world's most valuable private #software companies. The company says it has roughly 150 million users and that more than 200 new designs are made every second. So how does the Australian #design firm plan to make the next decade just as successful? In this episode of Future Ready, #CEO Melanie Perkins tells Bloomberg's @Emily Chang how prioritizing #consumer and #employee experience in addition to #artificialintelligence will play key roles. Tap the link in bio for their full interview. #AI #business ♬ original sound - Bloomberg Originals

🌹🚗✨ Cadillac Dreams, Canva Visions

Just as Dope Lemon’s “Rose Pink Cadillac” paints love as a dreamy, intoxicating journey where connection transforms the ride itself, Melanie Perkins’ story with Canva reflects a similar ethos in the world of design and entrepreneurship. Her success wasn’t simply about building a platform or achieving billionaire status—it was about creating a space where millions could collaborate, share, and bring ideas to life. Both the album and Perkins’ journey remind us that the true magic lies not in the vehicle—whether a vintage Cadillac or a tech startup—but in the relationships and creativity that drive it forward.

🎶 🎨🚗💖👩‍💻🌍✨🏄‍♂️💻📱💎🤝🌱🔥 🔊 Rose Pink Cadillac - Dope Lemon

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At just 37 years old, she is already one of the richest women in her country: Australia.

At the head of the online graphic design software Canva, Melanie Perkins is currently estimated to have a fortune of 9.2 billion Australian dollars, or about 5.75 billion US dollars. But how did this thirty‑something, who launched Canva twelve years ago, get there? As Madame Le Figaro reminds us, today Canva is one of the only Tech unicorns based outside Silicon Valley.

✨ From Fusion Books to Canva

Valued at 26 billion dollars, Canva has more than 225 million users and its annual revenue exceeds 2.5 billion dollars. From a very young age, Perkins had entrepreneurship in her blood. With Cliff Obrecht, who would later become her husband, she first launched Fusion Books, an application allowing students to create online yearbooks. In five years, the start‑up became one of the largest yearbook companies in Australia, also present in New Zealand and even in France, where there is still “a special link,” according to her.

🌊 The Turning Point

But one meeting would change Melanie Perkins’ life: Bill Tai. Although this co‑founder of Google Maps did not want to invest in Canva (like the hundred investors contacted before), he opened his address book to them, notably through a kitesurfing club. It was there that Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht met Cameron Adams, as Les Echos Start explained in June 2023. He first joined Fusion Books before the trio launched Canva in 2013. From the start, nearly 600,000 users were already fans of the application that made graphic design accessible to everyone.

🌍 Global Growth

In more than ten years, things have changed dramatically and the company has even been profitable since 2017, allowing it to acquire other companies such as Pixabay, Pexels, or Flourish. Canva employs more than 5,000 people worldwide and has opened eight offices: Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, then London, Austin, Manila, Beijing, and Wuhan in China, among others. In France, one in eight internet users uses Canva every month.

💖 Grounded Values and Philanthropy

Despite controversies linked to two data leaks in 2019 and 2020, Melanie Perkins has always managed to reassure users. Conscious of her social origins (middle class), she insists on keeping her feet on the ground and commits to NGOs and associations by making Canva’s premium version available free of charge to 400,000 of them. The couple also ensures that they will donate a “vast majority” of their fortune to charitable causes.

#DesignRevolution 🎨 #GlobalImpact 🌍 #StartupSpirit 🚀 #Philanthropy 💖 #WomenInTech 👩‍💻