Who Founded Canva?

Melanie Perkins (born 1987) co-founded Canva after realizing how difficult complex design software like Adobe InDesign was for students to learn. She pitched over 100 investors before securing initial funding. As CEO, she oversaw the product's rapid global adoption, focusing entirely on simplifying the user experience and introducing freemium web-based design templates.

Perkins was born in 1987. Before Canva she co-founded Fusion Books, a web-based yearbook publisher.

Cliff Obrecht is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Canva. A master of operational execution, sales strategy, and corporate partnerships, Obrecht directed Canva's business development from its early days in Perth. At Canva, Obrecht oversees global operations, people, real estate, international expansions, and strategic corporate M&A. He led the landmark acquisitions of Pexels, Pixabay, Smartmockups, Serif (Affinity), and Leonardo.ai, while orchestrating Canva's global philanthropic commitments alongside Melanie Perkins. Obrecht's operational discipline was crucial in guiding Canva to operating profitability within four years of public launch, a rare feat in venture-backed software. In 2024, Obrecht orchestrated the landmark acquisition of Serif and its Affinity suite, mounting Canva's direct competitive challenge to Adobe Creative Cloud, while co-directing Canva's philanthropic commitments to global poverty relief. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Cameron Adams (born 1980) joined Perkins and Obrecht in 2012 as the technical co-founder. He led the original engineering and product design of the Canva platform, ensuring it could function natively in web browsers without plugin dependencies. He serves as Chief Product Officer, managing Canva's global engineering hubs. Cameron Adams was born in 1980.