Graphic design startup Canva now has an extra $21 million to draw upon

Sydney-based graphic design startup Canva has raised $US15 million ($21 million) in series A funding, just two months after launching its subscription product Canva for Work.

The round was led by Silicon Valley-based Felicis Ventures and values the startup at $US165 million. Felicis were joined by existing investors Blackbird Ventures, Matrix Partners and Vayner Capital. Actors Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson also participated in the round.

This latest raise, follows a $US6 million raise in May and brings the startup’s total funding to almost $US30 million.

It’s the second time this year Felicis has led an Australian startup’s series A round. The firm also led Melbourne-founded culture analytics startup Culture Amp’s $US6.3 million raise in March.

“We weren’t actually intending on raising money,” Canva CEO and co-founder Melanie Perkins says.

“A lot of investors were really keen on what we were doing and were excited about our business. So we saw a really excellent partner in Felicis and thought it was a great opportunity going forward.”

It’s the largest amount Felecis’s fund has ever invested in an individual startup, Felecis Ventures partner Wesley Chan says.

“The fact that this is our largest ever cheque our fund has written demonstrates how much we believe in their vision,” he says.

Canva was founded in 2013 and by August this year, when it launched Canva for Work, it had grown a user base of over 4 million users.

It now has more than 5 million users, 42% of which are based in the United States. Importantly 35,000 teams have signed up to use Canva for Work – a subscription based service that charges $10 per user, per month. That 35,000 figure includes anything from individual businesses owners to teams of over 100 people, Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins wouldn’t disclose exactly how total users made up those teams.

“We’ve been absolutely overwhelmed by the launch of Canva for Work so far,” Perkins says. We’ve already got over 35,000 teams on board, which has been very exciting. And it’s everyone from solopreneurs to huge companies.

“We’ve achieved literally 1% of our product vision so far, so we’ve got a lot left to build. We’ve got 5 million users, but there’s how many billion users in the world on the internet?”

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