Melanie Perkins Built Canva Out of a Yearbook Business
Melanie Perkins is co-founder and chief executive of Canva, the online design platform that launched publicly in 2013. She started it with Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams. Canva had 265 million monthly active users at the end of 2025, up 20% in a year.
| Role | Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer |
|---|---|
| Company | Canva |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
| Industry | Technology |
| In role since | 2013 |
| Born | 1987, Perth, Western Australia |
| Education | Studied communications, psychology and commerce at the University of Western Australia |
| Company website | www.canva.com |
Fusion Books in Perth, Then a Move to Sydney
- 2007: co-founded Fusion Books, a school yearbook design business, with Cliff Obrecht in Perth
- 2012: Cameron Adams joined as the third co-founder
- 2013: Canva launched publicly, with Perkins as CEO
- 2021: Canva raised US$200 million at a US$40 billion valuation
Before university she attended Sacred Heart College in Sorrento, Perth. The founders moved from Perth to Sydney to hire engineers. Perkins has said Canva was turned down by more than 100 investors before it raised money.
Canva’s Users, Profits and Valuation
Canva sells design, document and presentation tools to individuals, schools and companies, with free and paid plans. It has been profitable for eight years in a row through 2025 and was last valued at $42 billion.
Canva later cut its growth forecast from 30% to 20% as the cost of running AI features rose. The company is preparing for a possible listing in the United States. In September 2021 Canva had more than 60 million monthly users and about 2,000 staff, so its user base grew more than fourfold in about four years.
