Design startup Canva notches a massive $40B valuation in the era of "tap-onomics"

Presentation deck looking like a Picasso... Sydney-based startup Canva wants to make graphic design accessible to non-design pros. You might've used it to create snazzy flyers, Insta carousels, and that presentation you forgot was due yesterday. Those DIY design templates just helped Canva raise $200M at a whopping $40B valuation, up from $15B barely five months ago.

• The big $40B: With its new valuation, Canva is now the world’s most valuable female-founded and female-led startup — and the world's fifth-most valuable private startup.

Like a blank Bob Ross canvas... Canva went 0 to 60 real quick. CEO Melanie Perkins and her team launched Canva as a free product in 2013, and eventually introduced "freemium" and enterprise layers. Canva now has:

• 60M monthly users across 190 countries, double what it had just over a year ago. And it's not just individuals looking for design help...
• 500K+ teams pay for Canva, including corporate giants like Salesforce, Marriott, PayPal, and American. In 2019, Canva said 85% of Fortune 500 companies use it.
• $1B: Canva has been doubling its revenue each year, and is expected to exceed $1B in annualized revenue by the end of 2021.