The world is full of problems. Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva, found the perfect answer to one of them. The Australian entrepreneur built Canva to democratize accessibility to design platforms, which went on to rival the tech giants.
Today, Canva has grown into one of the world’s most successful startups. It reached unicorn status within six years and has recognized by Forbes on its “Cloud 100” list and CNBC’s on its “Disruptor 50” list.
But Melanie’ journey to success wasn’t without challenges. Early growth relied on word-of-mouth and viral marketing strategies. In fact, she faced 100 rejections before finally finding someone who believed in her vision.
Melanie is living proof that, despite struggles, a founder can overcome any obstacle.
Early Self-Discipline
Born in 1987 and raised in Perth, Australia, Melanie’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur began at an early age. The daughter of an Australian-born teacher and a Malaysian engineer, Melanie had once aspired to be a professional figure skater, enduring 4:30 a.m. wake-up calls before enrolling at the University of Western Australia. By 14 she was making and selling scarves in her hometown for extra cash.
“I never forgot the freedom and excitement of being able to build a business. That was one of the driving forces that led me to launch what would evolve to be Canva,” she told Entrepreneur,
After high school, Melanie enrolled at the University of Western Australia and worked as a private tutor for graphic design students. During her time teaching graphic design to students, she realized how frustrating and complex software like Adobe Photoshop was for many people.
Instead of moving on from the issue, Melanie saw a gap in the market for a simpler, more collaborative tool. She envisioned and launched the design platform, Fusion Books that required no technical skills—just an intuitive online graphic editor she called “the world’s graphic design platform.” She and her co-founder, now husband, Cliff Obrecht, spent their days developing software to simplify the yearbook design process.
“People would have to spend an entire semester learning where the buttons were, and that seemed completely ridiculous […] I thought that in the future it was all going to be online and collaborative and much, much simpler than these really hard tools,” old CNBC Make It.
In its first year, Fusion Books was adopted by 16 Australian schools. Over the following years, the platform expanded across Australia, New Zealand, and France, quickly becoming the leading software provider.
Rejection and Funding
Despite her success with Fusion Books, Melanie never wavered from her “crazy, big dream” of creating an all-in-one design platform. After the initial success, Melanie was ready to create something even bigger, which was the moment when Canva began to take shape.
But first, they needed money.
Melanie and her team encountered significant challenges during their visits to Silicon Valley, getting shut down and dismissed the little-known co-founders who were also romantically involved. Despite her passion, most investors dismissed her vision, believing an Australian startup could never challenge giants like Adobe.
Undeterred, Melanie returned to Australia in 2012 and secured $3 million in funding, including $1.6 million from investors and $1.4 million in matching funds from the Australian government, which recognized Canva’s potential to boost the economy. This funding enabled her to scale the platform.
In 2013, with its humble capital, Canva was officially launched. This was followed by Series A funding in 2015 and Series B in 2016. By 2018, Canva hit unicorn status with a $40 million funding round.
Mastering Silicon Valley Networking
As of 2024, Canva boasts 185 million active users, a $26 billion valuation, and annual recurring revenue of about $2.3 billion.
In 2011, renowned investor Bill Tai, known for backing companies like Zoom and Wish.com, visited Perth to judge a startup competition. They secured a dinner meeting with Tai, where the two pitched Canva, as well as other venture capitalists in attendance, including Rick Baker from Blackbird Ventures.
This was when she saw the potential in networking to advance Canva.
“If you get your foot in the door just a tiny bit, you have to wedge it all the way in,” she told Forbes.
This lesson played out in front of her after Tai invited Melanie to one of his kitesurfing retreats (the most Silicon Valley thing ever.). There, she met key players like Lars Rasmussen, co-founder of Google Maps – who later became Canva’s tech advisor.
“Every time he (Tai) would say how was my business going, he’d also be like ‘how’s your kitesurfing going?’” she said in an interview. “But yeah, decided to give it a go because when you don’t have any connections, you don’t have any network, you just kind of have to wedge your foot in the door and wiggle it all the way through.”
They soon came in contact with Cameron Adams, an ex-Googler who had founded a startup based in Sydney. He began as an advisor in 2012 before signing on to be a third co-founder.
Once Canva had their technical leader in place, the rest is history.
Resilience and Grit
Melanie has proven herself time and time again. She has shown how a simple solution can succeed in the face of rejection. Her unwavering dedication and perseverance have led to the creation of one of the world’s most successful design platforms.
Melanie’s journey gives all aspiring entrepreneurs hope that with grit and resilience, a big dream can turn into global products that change industries. Despite no technical ability initially, Melanie was able to bring her dream to fruition – building tools for ordinary people.
And as Canva continues to grow, Melanie has no interest in slowing down.
Melanie told CEO Magazine. “We have such huge aspirations. We’ve done 1% of what’s possible so we’ve still got a lot to do but we celebrate success as we go.”
About the Author: Tess Danielson is a journalist and writer focusing on the intersection of technology and society.
Get on our radar for an investment.
Beta Boom invests in founders who don’t fit the traditional Silicon Valley mold.