Yahoo Finance 
Tech unicorn Canva is now valued at $8.7 billion following its latest funding round – double last year's valuation
Image: Supplied
Australian design company Canva has nearly doubled in value and is now worth US$6 billion ($8.7 billion).
The new, increased valuation comes after the company raised US$60 million in a new private funding round.
Canva says use of its platform has risen more than 50% since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.
Aussie design company Canva has nearly doubled its valuation to US$6 billion ($8.7 billion).
The company had previously been valued at US$3.2 billion. After raising US$60 million in a new funding round, it is now valued at US$6 billion.
The new valuation comes as the number of Canva users continues to grow worldwide. Currently, more than 30 million people use the platform each month to design content, with 80 designs made per second. And more than three billion designs have been made on Canva since it launched back in 2013.
As the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy, Canva has reported a growth in users, especially as more people work from home. The number of people using Canva has risen more than 50% since the pandemic began, according to the company.
"Now more than ever, organisations of all sizes are doubling down on building a reliable remote workplace, and are turning to modern productivity platforms like Canva to ensure they remain flexible and scalable," Canva cofounder and chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht said in a statement.
Venture capital company Blackbird also attributed Canva's growth to how it caters to changing workplace needs.
"In a post-COVID world of remote working, we are seeing Canva’s original vision - a collaborative platform to provide all the elements to create great design - become even more powerful," Blackbird investor Rick Baker said in a statement. "As a result, Canva has seen phenomenal growth over the past months, cementing its place as one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies in the world."
However, Canva has also faced skepticism from some analysts over its long-term viability, in an era when the name 'unicorn' – meaning a company worth more than $1 billion – comes with a lot of buzz. For example, investor Steve Johnson said he prefers knowing a company's profit margins rather than its revenue before investing in it.
"A multiple of revenue is meaningless by itself," he told the Australian Financial Review in 2019.
"Canva may turn out to be one of the great ones that are undoubtedly there – it's why there's a bubble in tech valuations – but would I rather pay $3 billion for something that's still mostly promises, or $U30 billion for something like [engineering software provider] Autodesk that is established, profitable and owns its space? I'll take the latter."
Canva expands internationally
Canva is used by more than 500,000 organisations and 90,000 schools and universities worldwide.
On July 29, the company is hosting its inaugural online Enterprise conference, Elevate 2020, with keynote addresses from Canva CEO and cofounder Melanie Perkins and customer panels with companies like Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and HubSpot.
And new features are on the way, including a real-time collaboration tool so you can work simultaneously with others on a project, a Canva Talking Presentations function which lets presenters talk through their slides and even a Canva for Desktop option.
Canva is also looking at more acquisitions in the media and editing space.
"Ultimately, we want Canva to be the go-to platform for all your design needs, so we’ll continue to monitor and evaluate acquisition opportunities," Obrecht added.
READ MORE:
Virtual pubs, Zoom yoga and lunch money: How companies like Canva, Atlassian and TransferWise are engaging staff working from home Australia saw a bump in venture capital funding in 2019, with Canva topping the list of biggest deals How Australian businesses like Canva and Culture Amp are committing to support the black community amid worldwide protests for racial equality
