Canva's fine print
The Australian tech darling had another good story to tell today after a secondary sale boosted its value to $48 billion. But a lack of detail means it raised more questions than it answered.
There’s been a conversation brewing in startup and VC circles this year about the way startup funding announcements are covered in the financial media, a conversation we at Capital Brief have enthusiastically participated in.
There is at times a lack of transparency about whether a funding announcement is a raise of fresh capital or a secondary, and how much money changed hands and at what valuation. Canva, the undisputed leader of the Australian startup scene, just pulled off a classic of the genre.
The graphic design software company on Thursday unexpectedly announced a secondary share sale that now values the business at USD32 billion ($48 billion). That’s a 20% increase on the USD26 billion it was valued at earlier this year, another sign of the momentum at the company and the enthusiasm among investors towards it. The uplift has also instantly added billions of dollars to the paper wealth of its founders and backers.
That’s the story Canva clearly wanted to get out there. But the announcement, which the company was under no obligation to make, actually raises more questions than it answered.
