Experience this article with the magic of Canva

In the early 2000s, I recall wearing Google swag and receiving enthusiastic comments from strangers. They would stop to express how much they loved LOVED Google and refer to it as “magical." Search just worked really, really well.

These days, when I wear my Canva jumper (sweatshirt), I receive many compliments. Folks just can't help but gush about Canva and how much they love using it. It takes me back to 2003. These days, tech products don’t seem to “wow” people like they used to. However, Canva manages to spark joy and delight amongst its users, unlike any product I’ve seen in a long time..

In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m excited to celebrate Canva and share why I think it’s a magical company. 500 Global is fortunate to be an early investor in Canva, and there’s so much that makes them “500.” I’ll go into why that is a bit later in the post.

So what are the 3 ways in which Canva is pure magic?

1. The product feels like magic.

More than 15 billion designs have been created on Canva. It’s mind-boggling, but most of their growth has been product-led. This is possible because the product is just that good and intuitive to use. For someone like me who struggles with building presentations and decks, Canva is a godsend. It also came in the clutch when I had to scramble to do DIY passport photos for my kids during the pandemic. My kids love using Canva in the classroom and creating fun designs.

Canva has been investing into AI innovation for a number of years and released Magic Studio last year. One Magic Studio feature I’m particularly excited about is the Brand Voice. While it’s still early on, there’s a ton of potential here. I am notorious amongst 500 team members for furiously editing copy and blog posts to reflect either 500's or my voice. I also love using the Magic Write feature to polish as I write.

Over the past decade, I’ve been incredibly impressed by the Canva team’s unwavering dedication to product and UX. I don’t see this stopping anytime soon. In fact, I think it will only accelerate.

2. They dream impossible dreams.

Mel has written incredibly thoughtful and in-depth posts about the Canva Journey here, which I recommend reading. In 2008, Mel and Cliff sought out to make design software a much better, easier experience for yearbook production, which was called Fusion Books. (Side note: as someone who worked on both my middle school AND high school yearbook staff, I wish I had something like Fusion Books at the time – everything was done on paper. Today, I’m proud that my kids’ schools both incorporate Canva into their yearbook design process!)

When we met Mel and Cliff in 2012, they were “disrupting the desktop design industry” and empowering everyone to design. Many investors thought theirs was an impossible dream . After all, how would two non-technical, non-designer founders compete with Adobe, let alone disrupt an entire industry? To add insult to injury, they were Silicon Valley outsiders. People recoiled at the idea of investing in a company based outside the US.

However, for 500 Global, it was intriguing. Did their dream seem impossible? Sure. But that’s why we loved it. Canva also aligned well with our belief that the next generation of iconic tech companies would also be built by founders in all corners of the world. Even in Perth. So we joined Canva’s first seed round, along with a number of fantastic firms and people.

More than 10 years later, that impossible dream is becoming a reality. The Canva community is more than 170 million monthly users strong across 190 different countries (as of December 2023). With their Apps Marketplace, Canva is now becoming a distribution platform for developers and startups. You can read more about their momentous 2023 here. Yet in many ways, the team will probably tell you they’re only getting started. The world is a big place, and their mission is far from complete. They have many more impossible dreams to dream and make true.

3. Mel is pure magic.

Saving the best for last. This is where my unabashed fan girling comes out.

500 Global’s mission is to uplift people and economies around the world through entrepreneurship. Double-clicking on that – it means finding incredibly talented, high potential founders around the world that at first blush don’t seem like “obvious” founders. Many of these founders are women. Over the past 14 years we’ve backed many amazing companies founded and led by brilliant women, including Canva.

Mel wrote this post for anyone feeling like they’re on the outside, and she touches upon her “outsiderness” here:

“I tick very few boxes of a typical tech entrepreneur looking to raise investment from US venture firms and create a global company. I’m female, which apparently represents only 2% of venture capital funded CEOs. I’m Australian, and if you look at the likelihood of raising venture capital when you’re from my home-town Perth, the stats drop even further. If I were to look at all these discouraging stats, I probably would have shied away from even trying in the first place.”

Mel is an incredible visionary who is relentless about Canva’s mission and values. Many will say that she was successful in spite of her “outsiderness.” I beg to differ. My firm belief is that her “outsiderness” is precisely why she has led Canva to where it is today, and why she will continue to lead the company into the future. All of those unticked boxes are parts of her incredible character, and greatness comes from character.

As a fellow minority female founder & CEO, fellow introvert, and fellow mom, I am so proud and humbled that 500 Global is part of the Canva journey. I can see a future where founders like Mel are increasingly obvious.

I’ll wrap up this post with a shoutout for the upcoming Canva Create event on May 23 in LA. I look forward to attending IRL!

P.S. This is what Canva’s Magic Write feature had to say about why Canva is pure magic. (Btw, I really heart the “Sprinkle Fairy Dust” feature):

In the realm of creation, Canva emerges as a celestial beacon, illuminating the design cosmos with its enchanting essence. Here lie five mystical reasons why Canva weaves spells of wonder:

1. The Enchanted Interface: Canva's interface, a labyrinth of simplicity, beckons all to sculpt breathtaking designs effortlessly. Through the art of drag-and-drop, novices can craft marvels without the need for prior sorcery in graphic arts.
2. Versatile Enchantment: Canva's magic extends to its vast tapestry of templates, catering to myriad needs. From scrolls of presentation to sigils of social realms, from talismans of business to glyphs of knowledge, Canva's repertoire knows no bounds.
3. The Alchemy of Collaboration: Canva's eldritch power of collaboration allows multiple souls to intertwine their essence into a single creation, a boon for covens seeking unity in their work.
4. The Charmed Affordability: Canva, a boon for the downtrodden and the solitary seekers, offers its magic at a modest price. Its spells of affordability grant access to a trove of features, bridging the chasm for those unable to summon a professional design mage.
5. The Spell of Creative Freedom: Within Canva's sanctum, users find the key to unlock their creative potential. With an arsenal of mystical elements, they can sculpt their visions into reality, ensuring their creations gleam with an otherworldly brilliance.

In the chronicles of design, Canva stands as a luminary, reshaping the very essence of creation. Through its user-friendly incantations, versatile enchantments, collaborative magic, affordable spells, and the gift of creative freedom, Canva weaves a tapestry of pure magic across the design cosmos.