Cliff Obrecht confirms Canva is working towards an IPO in 2027 as it beds in AI overhaul
Canva’s IPO has been pushed back as it begins a radical transformation from a SaaS-based business to one built around AI credits — pitting it directly against Anthropic and OpenAI.
Canva COO Cliff Obrecht finally has an answer to the question that has been hanging over Australia’s most valuable startup for years: the company is ready to go public. Next year.
“From all metric accounts, we are fully IPO ready,” Obrecht told Capital Brief ahead of its Canva Create event. “We grew 40% last year off a massive base. We’ve been profitable for nine years.”
But Obrecht, who co-founded the graphic design platform with CEO Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams in 2013, said Canva would not list until it had completed what he described as the most consequential shift in the company’s history — a transformation of its core business model to one built around artificial intelligence credits rather than feature-based subscription tiers.
“We want to make sure the evolution of this business model is really bedded in so we’re not having to explain ourselves to the market through a transitional period,” he said. “This transition is nothing but net positive. It’s just — do we grow faster or do we make more money?”
