Employees at Sydney-based graphic design giant Canva could become instant millionaires after the company achieved an eye-watering $A65 billion valuation.
An email sent to staff reportedly informed “Canvanauts” – the nickname for Canva staff – will be able to sell up to $4.6 million of their vested equity in a share tender offer.
Canva founders Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams. (Supplied)
Employees will be able to sell shares in a funding round led by Fidelity Management.
Obrecht said the funding round was “significantly oversubscribed”.
“We’re proud to be one of the most widely used platforms on the internet, with more than 240 million people designing with Canva each month,” said Obrecht said.
“This round has been significantly oversubscribed, which is a huge testament to the incredible work of our team and the impact Canva is having around the world.
“The overwhelming demand from both new and existing investors is a huge vote of confidence in our momentum and the scale of what still lies ahead. We really do believe we’re just 1 per cent of the way there, and that the best is yet to come.”
The number of shares that may be sold remains unknown.
The company also had a share sale in April last year which resulted in some staff becoming overnight millionaires.
It resulted in $2.4 billion in shares changing hands.
Employees will be able to sell shares in a funding round led by Fidelity Management. (Canva)
Canva this week reached its highest-ever valuation of $65 billion after upgraded valuations from early investors Blackbird and Square Peg.
This makes the internet start-up one of the most valuable ASX-listed companies.
Its new valuation edges Canva closer to fellow Australian-founded company Atlassian, which is valued at $67 billion.
Canva staff could walk away with $4.6 million following an employee share sale. (Canva)
The free online tool launched in 2013 and quickly became popular for creating social media graphics, promotional material, presentations and websites.
It began as a humble start-up offering free templates for birthday cards and invitations.
Canva said it now has over 240 million monthly active users.
Founders have described it as “one of the fastest growing AI products” after its AI tools were used more than 20 billion times.
Canva is expected to float on the US stock exchange next year, meaning this share sale could be the company’s last as a private entity.