Melanie Perkins
Overview
- Source of Wealth
- Software
- Industry
- Technology
- Residence
- Sydney
- Organization
- Cofounder & CEO at Canva
- Education
- University of Western Australia (Drop Out)
- Marital Status
- Married
Biography
Melanie Perkins is cofounder and CEO of design software maker Canva, which was valued by private investors at $42 billion in August 2025.
Canva was launched in 2013 by Perkins, now-husband Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams in Sydney, Australia, but was met by investor skepticism due to its location.
Like Obrecht, Perkins owns an estimated 18% stake. The couple has pledged to transfer more than 80% of their stake to the Canva Foundation for charitable causes.
Defying the doubts, Canva has attracted 240 million monthly users to its freemium software, with 6 million teams from companies like Zoom paying for it.
Canva's software enables the creation of attractive visuals for menus, resumes and Instagram graphics.
About
Perkins learned kitesurfing in an effort to receive an investment from a group of kiteboard enthusiast venture capitalists, including angel investor Bill Tai.