Executive Spotlight: Melanie Perkins, Co-Founder and CEO of Canva (2027)
Melanie Perkins is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Canva, the online design platform. Fortune's 2026 Most Powerful Women Asia ranking lists her as "Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer" and says she launched Canva in 2013 with the goal of making design accessible to anyone.
She matters because Canva grew from a startup that was rejected by more than 100 investors into a company that reported 265 million monthly active users at the end of 2025. Fortune describes it as the world's highest-valued female-founded and -led startup.
This page uses public professional information only.
Current role and company
Perkins is Canva's CEO. The queue listing for this page says the same, and Fortune's 2026 ranking page agrees. Canva's own website returned an access error when we tried to read it, so we rely on Fortune and Startup Daily.
- Fortune (2026 ranking page)Lists her as Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Canva, which she launched in 2013.
- Fortune on Canva's standingCalls it the world's highest-valued female-founded and -led startup.
- Fortune on a listingSays Canva is working toward a U.S. stock-market listing, with no date given.
Canva is an online design platform. Its stated aim, per Fortune, is making design accessible to anyone.
Career path
- University of Western Australia. Startup Daily reports she taught design programs while studying psychology and commerce, and that her students' struggles with basic design tools inspired the idea for a simpler platform.
- Fusion Books. Her first business. Startup Daily says it was bootstrapped, so she handled customer service, quality assurance, product management and marketing herself, and calls it the proving ground for Canva.
- Canva, 2013. Fortune says she launched Canva in 2013 after more than 100 investor rejections in early fundraising.
- Since then. Startup Daily describes Canva's success as the result of more than a decade of learning, not an overnight win, and Fortune reports eight consecutive years of profitability at the end of 2025.
What she is known for
- Persistence through rejection. Fortune cites more than 100 investor rejections in Canva's early fundraising.
- Profitability. Fortune says Canva had eight consecutive years of profitability at the end of 2025.
- Building a high-value company. Fortune says Canva was last valued at $42 billion, without giving a date.
- AI push. Fortune's 2026 page says Canva launched its AI 2.0 platform in April, which it called its biggest-ever launch.
Leadership style and philosophy
These points come from a 2022 Startup Daily interview, as reported there.
- Big goals. She says, "Having a large goal is critical to my being," and Canva's stated values include setting crazy big goals and making them happen.
- Two-step plan. The interview describes her plan as building one of the world's most valuable companies and then doing the most good possible.
- Delegation. She describes learning to delegate as a continuous process of letting go, after early years of doing everything herself.
Key numbers (Canva, as reported by Fortune)
Canva is private. These figures come from Fortune's 2026 ranking page and are company or press reported, not audited.
- Monthly active users (end of 2025)265 million, up 20% on the year.
- Profitability (end of 2025)Eight consecutive years of profitability.
- Valuation (date not given)Last valued at $42 billion.
- Growth outlook (August)Canva cut its growth forecast from 30% to 20% after AI serving costs rose sharply.
What to watch next
Worth tracking: how Canva's AI costs and growth rate develop after the forecast cut Fortune describes, and whether the U.S. listing it mentions gets a date.
Questions people ask
Who is Melanie Perkins?
She is the co-founder and CEO of Canva, the online design platform she launched in 2013.
What does Melanie Perkins do now?
She is Canva's chief executive officer, per Fortune's 2026 ranking page.
What did Melanie Perkins do before Canva?
She taught design programs at the University of Western Australia and ran Fusion Books, her first business, per Startup Daily.
How big is Canva?
Fortune says monthly active users rose 20% to 265 million at the end of 2025.
Is Canva profitable?
Fortune says Canva had eight consecutive years of profitability at the end of 2025.
Sources
- Fortune: Melanie Perkins, Most Powerful Women Asia 2026 · Title, users, profitability, valuation, 2026 events
- Startup Daily: How Melanie Perkins turned Canva into one of the world's most successful tech companies (March 2022) · Early career, Fusion Books, her stated approach
- Wikimedia Commons: File:M_Perkins.jpg · Hero photo and license
Facts were read from the linked pages on October 31, 2026. Pages were read through a fetch tool that returns summaries, so confirm details on the original page. Canva's own site could not be fetched. The hero photo is credited to Melanie Perkins via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). This page covers public professional information only.
Top photo: Melanie Perkins via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)