- The Canva timeline: 10 years of empowering the world to design
The Canva timeline: 10 years of empowering the world to design
Canva is turning 10! As we step into our next decade, we're reflecting on just how far we’ve come with a timeline of some special milestones and moments in our journey so far.
In 2023, we’re incredibly excited to be celebrating Canva’s 10th anniversary. What started as just a wild dream to change the future of design from a lounge room table has become the world’s most popular visual communication platform, now empowering over 135 million people in the world to design. Together, our community has created more than 15 billion designs over the last decade. Today, over 200 new designs are created every second.
From global enterprise companies scaling their brands to nonprofits championing important causes, teachers engaging classrooms to inspire the next generation, and small businesses growing into world-leading franchises, the impact our community is making with our platform continually blows us away. We truly believe we’re still only 1% of the way there – but as we step into the next decade of Canva, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate and reflect on just how far we’ve come.
We’re often asked how we got to where we are today, so we’ve put together a timeline with some of the key moments in our journey so far. Don’t forget to click through the carousels to see team photos, product launches and special moments from throughout the years! Here’s to the next decade, and the one after that!
2013
- Canva launches to the world: Canva officially launched(opens in a new tab or window) to a waiting list of more than 50,000 people.
2014
- Launched design marketplace for pro designers: Professional graphic designers could now contribute layouts and earn royalties(opens in a new tab or window) every time their designs are purchased.
- Opened campus in Manila: As our team expanded, we unveiled our first office outside of Australia.
- 100,000 people using Canva: By the end of our second year, 100,000 people were using Canva to design.
- Welcomed Guy Kawasaki as Chief Evangelist: The renowned author, entrepreneur, and startup advisor(opens in a new tab or window) developed an evangelism program. for Canva and helped it grow internationally.
- 1.8 million designs created in Canva: Less than a year into launching, our design community had created nearly two million designs.
- Launched Canva's iPad app: Our new app(opens in a new tab or window) brought everything people loved about Canva to the iPad.
2015
- Announced Canva for Work: Launched Canva for Work(opens in a new tab or window) (now known as Canva Pro) to bring even more design capabilities to professionals
- 50 employees at Canva: Our team of Canvanauts started to grow rapidly.
- 50 million designs created: From posters to social media posts, more than 50 million designs have been created with Canva by over 1.5 million people each month.
- Announced $165M valuation: Raised our $15M Series A(opens in a new tab or window) from investors including Blackbird Ventures and Matrix Partners, valuing Canva at US$165 million.
2016
- 100 Canvanauts: Our team grew to 100 people across Sydney and Manila.
- Canva launches in Spanish: Hola España! Canva launches in Spanish as our first language other than English.
- Launched our iPhone app: Expanded our reach with the launch of our highly anticipated iPhone app.
- 3.6 million users: Our global community grew exponentially.
2017
- Launched Canva Print: Made it possible to print and deliver designs to your door with the launch of Canva Print.
- Held our first Season Opener: We kicked off the first of our quarterly Season Openers to celebrate our team.
- Launched animations: Canva designs could now be brought to life with animations(opens in a new tab or window).
- We became profitable: Marked our first year of profitability.
- 500 million designs: From blog banners to thumbnails, Canva celebrates over 500 million designs being created.
- Launched our Android app: Android users could also use Canva on their mobile devices.
- Launched in 100 languages: Doubled down on our mission to empower everyone to design in every language.
2018
- Announced $1B valuation: Raised $40M(opens in a new tab or window) from investors including Sequoia China and Blackbird Ventures, making Canva one of Australia's first unicorn companies.
- Launched Canva Presentations: Took designing, sharing, and interacting with presentations to a whole new level with the launch of Canva Presentations.
- Acquired Zeetings: Made our first acquisition(opens in a new tab or window) as we doubled down on building the world's best presentations product.
- Canva China launched: Canva launched in Mainland China to empower China's 1 billion internet users to design.
- #1 Best Place to Work: Canva awarded #1 Best Place to Work(opens in a new tab or window) in Australia by Great Places to Work.
- One billion designs: Hit the milestone of one billion designs created in Canva.
2019
- 500 Canvanauts: Celebrated hitting 500 Canvanauts as we continued expanding our team to deliver on our goals.
- Acquired Pexels and Pixabay: Massively expanded our content library with the acquisition of Pexels and Pixabay(opens in a new tab or window), bringing more than one million free images to Canva.
- Launched Canva Apps: Apps(opens in a new tab or window) in Canva opened up a whole raft of new ways to take designs to the next level.
- Launched Canva for Education: Made it possible for any teacher to bring the power of visual communication to the classroom(opens in a new tab or window) at zero cost.
- Joined Pledge 1%: Pledged 1% of our time, product, profit and equity towards doing good in the world through the Pledge 1% movement.
- 24 million people using Canva each month: Our community grew to 24 million people using Canva each month to achieve their goals.
2020
- Opened our first US campus in Austin, TX: Celebrated our first US office opening in Austin as we marked the milestone of more than 1,000 Canvanauts around the world.
- Canva valued at $6B: Raised $60M from investors including Bond, Blackbird Ventures and General Catalyst; taking our valuation to US$6 billion(opens in a new tab or window).
- Named to Forbes Cloud 100: Canva was recognized among the world's top cloud computing companies on the Forbes Cloud 100 list(opens in a new tab or window).
- 40 million users: Celebrated 40 million people using Canva(opens in a new tab or window) every single month to achieve their goals.
- Launched Canva Video and Desktop App: Made video creation simpler and more accessible than ever with the launch of Canva's Video Suite.
2021
- Valued at $15B: Raised $71M from investors including T. Rowe Price and Dragoneer, more than doubling our valuation to US$15 billion(opens in a new tab or window).
- Acquired Smartmockups (now known as Mockups) and Kaleido: Welcomed world-leading product mockup creator Smartmockups and groundbreaking visual AI platform Kaleido(opens in a new tab or window) to the Canva family.
- Valued at $40B: Raised $200M, nearly tripling our valuation to US$40B(opens in a new tab or window), making Canva one of the world's most valuable private companies.
- Unveiled our 30% pledge: Announced our Two-Step Plan(opens in a new tab or window) and commitment to pledge 31% of Canva(opens in a new tab or window) towards social good through the Canva Foundation.
- Rebranded with a new Canva logo: We refined our logo(opens in a new tab or window) to reflect the evolution of the company and product.
- Signed the Climate Pledge: Became the first Australian company to sign the Climate Pledge(opens in a new tab or window), a global commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040, and meet The Paris Agreement 10 years early.
- Launched One Print, One Tree: Committed to planting a tree for every product printed through Canva Print(opens in a new tab or window), and planted one million trees(opens in a new tab or window).
- 75 million monthly users: Celebrated the milestone of more than 75 million monthly active users as visual communication accelerated across the globe.
2022
- Acquired Flourish: Welcomed data visualization platform Flourish(opens in a new tab or window) and announced our expansion plans for the UK and Europe.
- Launched Canva for Teams: Brought visual communication to the workplace with the launch of Canva for Teams(opens in a new tab or window).
- Opened Canva Space: Opened the doors to Canva Space(opens in a new tab or window), our newest community event space.
- Launched the Visual Suite at our first Canva Create: Unveiled the biggest change to Canva in a decade with the launch of our Visual Suite(opens in a new tab or window) including Docs, Websites and Whiteboards at our first global event, Canva Create(opens in a new tab or window).
- Fortune 'Most Powerful Women' cover: Canva CEO Melanie Perkins featured on the cover of Fortune magazine's 'Most Powerful Women' issue.
- 100 million monthly users: Celebrated the milestone of more than 100 million people(opens in a new tab or window) designing with Canva each month.
- 15 billion designs: Celebrated our global design community creating 15 billion designs(opens in a new tab or window) in Canva.
2023
- Launched AI 'Magic':Infused AI across our Canva products(opens in a new tab or window) and launched a suite of brand management tools(opens in a new tab or window).
- Named TIME100 Most Influential Companies: With more than 200 new designs being created every second, Canva was named one of TIME's most influential companies(opens in a new tab or window) for empowering the world to design.
- Opened new Melbourne, London, and Austin campuses: Continued expanding our team and global presence with new offices in Melbourne(opens in a new tab or window), Austin(opens in a new tab or window) and London(opens in a new tab or window).
- Expanded Canva for Education: Introduced Canva for Districts(opens in a new tab or window) and Canva for Campus(opens in a new tab or window) into our Canva for Education program.
- Continued our GiveDirectly partnership: After a successful pilot program we entered phase two of our GiveDirectly partnership(opens in a new tab or window), donating $20 million in cash transfers to help uplift people from extreme poverty.
- Held 'Force for Good Week': Held our first week-long event dedicated to volunteering(opens in a new tab or window).
- 4000 Canvanauts: We now have a team of 4000 talented individuals around the globe.
- 135 million monthly users: Today, our global community is made up of 135 million incredible people.
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