Canva claimed to have reached profitability even before its latest round of funding

Australian graphic design startup Canva has raised a US$40 million in Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital China, with participation from existing investors Blackbird Ventures and Felicis Ventures.

The company’s latest round of funding has turned it into “Australia’s only” privately backed unicorn, according to a Bloomberg report. The report also explained that only eight of the country’s listed technology companies are worth more than US$1 billion compared with 18 companies in metals and mining alone.

Canva plans to use the new funding to double its workforce, which is currently run by a team of 230 employees.

Another report by TechCrunch cited a plan to focus more on product development, particularly their presentation tool kits.

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Co-founder Melanie Perkins said that the company has been profitable and did not need the money, but the offered terms were so good that “it would be crazy” for them to not take the opportunity.

“We can grow our team as rapidly as we can and know that we’ve got the financial backing to make those decisions very easily,” she explained.

Founded in 2012 by Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cam Adams, Canva is a platform for users with no background in graphic design to design banners, logos and presentations. The platform is available for desktop, tablet, and smartphone.

The Sydney-based company also introduced its on-demand print service Canva Print for the US, Australian, and European market.

Prior to this funding round, its latest was a US$15 million in Series B round in September 2016.

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Image Credit: Canva

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