Canva’s value slashed by 44 per cent by leading US investor

Australia’s top tech darling has suffered a “brutal” round of cuts to its valuation, but the company is still in huge demand from job hunters.

Australia’s tech golden child, online graphic design company Canva, has suffered more “brutal” cuts with a leading US investment firm further slashing its valuation by billions.

The Australian company was founded by Perth sweethearts Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, alongside Tasmanian developer Cameron Adams, and at its peak last September, the business was valued at a staggering $A54.5 billion.

But the global investment company T. Rowe Price revealed it had knocked 30 per cent more off its valuation.

The latest downgrade by the fund means it has slashed the unicorn’s valuation by a total of 44 per cent since the end of 2021.

The US fund’s savage cuts means it believes Canva is worth far less than its September peak, downgrading it to $A32.1 billion.

This adds up to a $A22.4 billion overall drop in the company’s worth, according to the fund.

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Canva co-founders Cameron Adams, Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins. Picture: Supplied

T. Rowe Price first invested in Canva in April last year and was the leader in the company’s most recent capital raising round by tipping in $US200 million ($A287 million) in September.

Canva, which was founded in 2013, boasts 85 million monthly active users across 190 countries with over 3000 employees, but its founder aren’t worried about the tough market conditions which have hit the tech industry hard, with many start-ups laying off staff or collapsing.

Canva’s co-founder Cliff Obrecht previously said he believed the bearish market would provide the company with lots of opportunities.

Canva, which was founded in 2013, boasts 85 million monthly active users across 190 countries, with over 3000 employees. Pic: Fran Foo

A Canva spokesman also told the Australian Financial Review earlier this month that it was confident the valuation would bounce back and over the last six months it had received more than 200,000 job applications and added over 700 people to the team.

“Ultimately, we’re not distracted by short-term changes in the market. Instead, our team is hyperfocused on continuing to deliver new products and category expansion opportunities that will grow and strengthen our long-term value,” he said.

“Companies with strong fundamentals will emerge from this period stronger than before.”

Canva has suffered a series of cuts to its valuation from a range of investment firms.

In July, Australia’s largest venture capital firm Blackbird revealed in a statement to news.com.au that they had reduced the holding value of Canva by 36 per cent – a drop of about $US14 billion or $A20 billion.

Three Australian venture capital firms jointly slashed the company’s valuation by 36 per cent. Picture: Supplied.

Blackbird holds around a 14 per cent stake of Canva but acknowledged that Canva was far from the only company that had suffered as both public and private tech companies have been facing a reckoning in the current economic climate.

“After an exuberant period in 2021, the public markets have been brutal on tech companies. The new holding valuation reflects this public market decline. It doesn’t reflect any reduction in Blackbird’s enthusiasm for Canva,” the firm said.

Blackbird Ventures was joined by other Australian venture capital funds including Square Peg Capital and AirTree Ventures, which all reduced the value of their stake in the tech darling by 36 per cent.

This saw a $US14.4 billion ($A20 billion) reduction in their perceived value of the company to $US25.6 billion ($A36 billion).