Canva founders to put their billions to ‘greater good’

Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht will target US politics as they donate their billions to ‘the greater good’.

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

Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht will donate their billions to “the greater good”, with the cashed-up young couple declaring their first target is the US political system.

The engaged pair, 32 and 34 respectively, are now the youngest billionaire duo in Australia after their graphic design firm’s latest blockbuster $US60m ($87m) funding round gave them an estimated combined wealth of $2.5bn and Canva a $US6bn value. Canva chief product officer Cameron Adams is also now a billionaire based on his shareholding.

Canva’s latest raising, from existing shareholders including Australia’s Blackbird Ventures and China’s Sequoia Capital, doubles its previous value, and its founders will focus even more on their previously stated intent to promote social causes and “bring a little more equality to the world”.

Obrecht told The Australian that what he was seeing in the US political system was “really unhealthy”, and he hoped his wealth could be used to enact change. He and Perkins are joining a growing list of tech billionaires using their cash towards progressive causes.

“Mel and I are committed to giving away all our money to make the world a better place,” Obrecht said. “I think with running such a large company with such a significant valuation now, it’s an obligation on us to use that to be a force for good and make the world a better place, rather than just hoard shit.

“There’s only so many beds you can sleep in on any one night, and only so many steak dinners you can have.”

The executive, who serves as Canva’s chief operating officer, said he was watching the machinations of the next US presidential election in November.

Melanie Perkins. Picture: Dean Mackenzie

“Ultimately, you can do a lot of things but if the governing bodies of the world aren’t trying to make the world a better place and are working for their own self-interest rather than the greater good, I think that’s the biggest lever you can pull. We’ve been thinking about that a lot lately,” he said.

“I’ve looked into how we can help the current cycle in regards to making sure the right candidate hopefully gets the best chance, the candidate who is actually trying to make the world a better place. But it’s a very complex beast, we haven’t worked it out yet.”

The co-founders, who set up Canva in 2014, planned to be married by now but have had to postpone their wedding due to COVID-19. Obrecht proposed to Perkins last year in Turkey’s backpacker-friendly Cappadocia region with a $30 engagement ring.

Perkins debuted on The List — Australia’s Richest 250, published by The Australian in March, with wealth of $1.32bn with Obrecht, making her the youngest billionaire in the country. She is now Australia’s third-richest woman.

“We live pretty modestly and we don’t really see the need to just accrue wealth,” Obrecht said. “The priority for the company is education, because we really feel educating underprivileged people gives them the opportunity to break the cycle.

“We’ve also been looking into the global healthcare system, through some sort of interesting sort of family experiences, with people who have accidents or medical issues.

Melanie Perkins, the CEO of Canva.

“It’s just highly inefficient, it’s not optimal and I think if you bring a tech lens to something like health and start bringing more structured data to the way the healthcare system works, you can have a big impact and hopefully help a lot of lives.

“We’re looking at what we’re going to do during our time at Canva and beyond it.”

Perkins recently said Canva was progressing along its “very simple two-step plan”.

“One, to build one of the world’s most valuable companies, and two, to do the most good we can do,” she said. “I hope with the opportunity that has been afforded to us we can use it to bring a little more equality to the world over the years to come.”

Obrecht added that a public listing would probably be on the horizon in the next couple of years, with Canva capitalising on an economy-wide shift to more remote work and collaboration.

“We’re growing fast, more than 100 per cent year-on-year from a revenue and user perspective and we’re profitable,” Obrecht said.