Canva's founders lose $7bn net worth

The tech industry is not well.

The tech industry is not well.

The star founders of tech unicorn Canva are an estimated $7.2 billion poorer, as the business lost about one-third of its projected value.

Canva's valuation - the economic value of the whole business - was slashed by $20.7 billion or about 36%. The company is now valued at $36.8 billion, according to a key investor, venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures.

In just September last year, the software company raised $US200m in capital, becoming more valuable than that of Telstra and Woolworths, and was considered Australia's fastest growing company.

In 2018, the start-up achieved unicorn status - which means it reached a valuation of US$1 billion.

It's one of the biggest value losses in Australian business of late and comes as the technology sector, particularly the start-up space, hemorrhages staff and money.

"After an exuberant period in 2021, the public markets have been brutal on tech companies. The new holding valuation reflects this public market decline," a Blackbird spokeswoman told The Australian. Blackbird held about 14% of Canva in the second half of last year.

At least $7.2 billion could be wiped off the value of star founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht's stake in Canva based on Blackbird's revaluation of the firm. The pair recently made this year's The List - Australia's Richest 250.

Canva founders Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins. Source: Max Doyle

But Canva remains positive.

"While the overall market landscape has changed, our growth trajectory is unaffected," a Canva spokesman told The Australian.

"We continue to see unprecedented growth in teams and workplaces as they look to tighten budgets by consolidating their marketing and visual communication tools into Canva, and we’re confident that no matter the market conditions, we’ll exceed our current valuation in the not-too-distant future."

This valuation was carried out by a big four accounting firm and the company says it was rigorous.

The Blackbird spokeswoman said "Canva remains one of the very best software companies in the world".

"What’s become clear in benchmarking Canva’s progress, is that Canva is growing faster and with greater efficiency than almost all of its top listed peers."

Blackbird said the sharp decline in public markets had seen some of their funds decline in value by up to 30%.