Canva eyes IPO within two years as user growth accelerates

Canva is considering an IPO within the next two years, according to chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht.

The Australia-based design software company saw about 2 million downloads of its Affinity product suite in the two weeks after making it free.

Affinity is a set of design tools with AI features available to paid users.

Canva competes with firms such as Adobe and is focusing on AI to drive future growth.

The company was last valued at around US$42 billion in a share sale.

Canva recently hired Kelly Steckelberg, former CFO of Zoom, as a top financial executive.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Canva says it has $3 billion in annualized revenue and 220 million monthly users 1. Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) filings show statutory losses in 2021 and 2022, with profit claims driven by non-cash items such as share-based payments 2.
Affinity has 2 million downloads. Canva converts only 11.05% of active users to paid 1, which casts doubt on whether free Affinity users will lift revenue or pad vanity metrics.
Former Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg joined as a senior finance leader 3. Canva is tightening its reporting ahead of US scrutiny to close the gap between its profit story and its statutory filings 2.

Adobe raised prices 4 5, which pushes customers to consider alternatives. Enterprise buyers still need migration tools, training programs, or compliance frameworks that third-party vendors can supply.
More than 95% of Fortune 500 companies use Canva Enterprise (the company’s business-tier plan) 3. Many still need custom integrations with Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems, brand management tools, or approval workflows. That opens space for B2B SaaS firms in design operations.
Canva is moving into coding, spreadsheets, and AI chatbots 3. Platform orchestration vendors can ship connectors that tie Canva to existing stacks, which helps companies hedge against single-vendor lock-in.