Canva raises a further $15m to expand its platform with Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson among new investors
Hollywood stars Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson have become investors in online design platform Canva, as the company has raised $15m to increase its workforce and push into new markets.
The release:
Canva raised a $US15 million Series A funding round to expand its popular online design platform, a service now used by more than 5 million marketers, designers and businesses. The company is now valued at $US165 million.
Canva will use the funding to grow its team, enhance the product and expand globally. Despite its Australian roots, Canva is already used in more than 179 countries, and more than one million designs are created with the service each week. The funding announcement follows the success of Canva’s recent launch of Canva for Work, a subscription offering for businesses.
“Graphics give everyone an edge when they want to communicate. This applies in sales, marketing, and social media as well as internal communications. Our goal is to empower people by democratizing design,” said Canva CEO Melanie Perkins. “We are thrilled that our installed base has doubled in four months, and over 35,000 teams have upgraded to the paid version of Canva in its first few weeks.”
Canva is used by 40% of Fortune 500 companies and counts well-known organisations such as Huffington Post, Lonely Planet, Yelp and Hubspot among users of its workplace product.
“We’re literally just scratching the surface when it comes to the potential of Canva. Our user-base has doubled in the past four months and that’s not slowing down,” she said.
The round was led by investors Felicis Ventures. They were joined by existing investors Blackbird Ventures, Matrix Partners, and new investors Vayner Capital, the investment arm of Gary Vaynerchuk. Hollywood actors Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson have also become investors in the company.
“When we first saw Canva, we knew that they would disrupt the graphics and photo design market,” commented Felicis Ventures partner Wesley Chan. “The fact this is our largest ever check our fund has written demonstrates how much we believe in their vision.”
According to Owen Wilson, “Canva is on fire! This could be a game changer. 5 million users in just over two years, the numbers speak for themselves. Great investment and top-notch team.”
Source: Canva press release
It is absolutely amazing to see Australian companies growing to take over the world. Congratulations to Melanie Perkins and team.
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