VC agency Blackbird Ventures has cracked open a few of its golden eggs, offloading a small slice of its stake in design platform Canva at a US$25.5 billion (A$38.8bn) valuation in a secondary market sale to US buyers.
The take care of New York’s Coatue Administration and San Francisco’s ICONIQ Capital is one other step down the trail in the direction of a US itemizing for the decade-old, Sydney-based tech firm. It realises a significant uplift for Blackbird buyers after the VC first tipped in A$250,000 on the Seed stage in 2012.
Blackbird is Canva’s newest shareholder, with its holding price round A$5 billion. Based in 2012, the identical 12 months as Canva , the VC has backed the tech scaleup throughout eight rounds, most not too long ago in September 2021, when Canva’s valuation peaked at A$54.5 billion in a $273 million elevate. Blackbird subsequently valued its holding at $8 billion
However 12 months in the past, Blackbird, together with Canva’s different Huge Three VC buyers, Sq. Peg and Airtree, reduce Canva’s valuation by 36% amid the broader carnage of personal tech firm valuations – most notably the Swedish BNPL fintech Klarna, which noticed its price drop 85%. In distinction Canva’s August 2022 estimate has held its floor during the last 12 months, regardless of harder occasions globally for the startup sector
Blackbird offered 3% of its 15% shareholding in Canva, from its early funds, for $150 million. A number of superannuation funds invested in that fund, together with AustralianSuper, Hostplus, HESTA, Telstra Tremendous and Conscious Tremendous in addition to the federal authorities’s Future Fund.
The deal returns round $17 million to Hostplus, a long-term Blackbird supporter, a cornerstone investor within the $225 million 2015 fund.
Blackbird cofounder Rick Baker mentioned the sale to 2 new extremely revered US buyers is “an enormous vote of confidence” in Canva.
“As we transfer into the liquidity section of Blackbird’s early funds, we’re delighted to be returning capital to those that backed us proper to start with, from people to tremendous funds,” he mentioned.
“We first invested in Canva simply over ten years in the past. This sale is simply 3% of the full Blackbird funds’ shareholding in Canva. It comes from our early funds, which invested in Canva when it was simply an concept within the founders’ minds.
“These funds are getting nearer to the tip of their fastened time period lives and it’s time to begin releasing a number of the returns again to buyers. Whereas it’s a small portion of our whole holding, it’s a vital return of capital to our buyers.”
Baker hailed Canva as “an outstanding success story” and “among the best software program firms on this planet”, demonstrating that Australia can produce big companies with world affect
“Canva continues to carry out exceptionally nicely off the again of its Worksuite and AI product releases, that are driving robust consumer and income development,” he mentioned.
“We stay robust supporters of the corporate and are excited for the remaining 97% of our funds’ shareholding to proceed to develop in worth.”
Nasdaq forward?
Startup Every day contacted Canva for remark, however the enterprise declined.
Not like Australia’s different tech big, Atlassian, which continues to submit eye-watering operational losses 20 years on – the Nasdaq-listed office software program firm’s FY23 loss was $526 million – Canva has been worthwhile since 2017, with cofounder Cliff Orbrecht telling The Australian that the enterprise is “definitely on the scale the place we may IPO” and now has US buyers with expertise of seeing firm by to a public float.
“We have now a bunch of huge bets we’re nonetheless engaged on that we need to see come to fruition over the approaching years earlier than we go public, as a result of we would like these issues to be confirmed repeatable and predictable, and that’s form of what public markets are in search of,” he mentioned.
“However as we develop the stress builds and we’re not antagonistic to being a public firm, however we’ll do it when the timing is correct.”
The Nasdaq has been flirting with Canva in a four-year wooing utilizing its digital billboard in New York’s Occasions Sq., congratulating after it was named as the most effective office for innovation by Quick Firm final month.
