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Canva Inc. is taking its low-cost plans to more emerging markets to expand the user base of its creative design software, after winning over price-sensitive customers in India.
The firm last year introduced a daily plan at 69 rupees ($0.79) in India, helping it grow in its fourth-largest market by users. That plan is also now active in Indonesia, and the company is testing such low-cost pricing models in other markets across Asia and Latin America, Chandrika Deb, Canva’s India country manager, said at a news conference in New Delhi Thursday.
Sydney-based Canva — among the most formidable competitors to Adobe Inc. — is targeting the world’s growth regions to win over first-time customers for its suite of photo-editing, publishing and illustration software popular among social-media users. The firm’s been profitable for years, and investors have long seen it as ready for a public listing.
“We’re definitely thinking about what an IPO looks like and what we need to get to that stage,” co-founder Cameron Adams, who is on his maiden trip to India, said at the Delhi event. “This visit here is really about the Indian market. It’s about meeting all of the great team members that we now have — the team’s doubled in the last year.”
Canva has recorded more than $2.5 billion in annualized sales and has over 220 million active monthly users, Adams said. The company has just over 24 million paid subscribers, according to Adams.
The executives didn’t disclose specifics on profit or the number of staff or users in India, but said local customers include large tech companies, startups and small to mid-sized businesses.
The startup, last valued at $32 billion, has tied up with governments in countries including Indonesia, Poland, and the Philippines to bring design resources to local users. Adams said the company would look to replicate that in India.
“One of the things I’m keen to do is visit education users here in India, understand how they’re using it, and understand how we can bring it to even more people,” Adams said. “Because education use in India has gone rampant.”
Canva, founded in 2013, was initially rejected by investors, many of whom were wary of its distance from Silicon Valley. But over the years, its graphic design tools and templates have won over people from teachers to couples making wedding invitations. It now has 5,000 employees across the world.
Late last year, Canva hired former Zoom Video Communications Inc. Chief Financial Officer Kelly Steckelberg as its top financial executive, signaling a move toward an IPO.
