Melanie Perkins
Melanie Perkins | |
|---|---|
Perkins in 2019 | |
| Born | 1987 (age 38–39)[1] |
| Education | University of Western Australia |
| Occupation | Technology entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Canva |
| Spouse | |
Melanie Perkins (born 1987) is an Australian technology entrepreneur. She is best known as for co-founding Canva, an online graphic design platform, with Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams. She serves as the company's chief executive officer. Perkins previously co-founded Fusion Books, a web-based yearbook publisher.
In 2023, she was listed on the Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women[3] and 92nd in Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women.[4]
Early life
Perkins was born in 1987 in Perth, Western Australia, to an Australian-born mother who worked as a teacher and a Malaysian engineer of Filipino and Sri Lankan heritage.[5][6] She attended Sacred Heart College,[7] a secondary school located in the northern Perth suburb of Sorrento. While at high school, Perkins trained seriously in figure skating and started a small business selling handmade scarves.[8][9]
After high school, Perkins enrolled at the University of Western Australia, majoring in communications, psychology and commerce.[10] At this time, Perkins was also a private tutor for students learning graphic design. Perkins has said the slow learning curve of traditional design tools prompted her to explore simpler, web-based alternatives. She left university at age 19 to pursue a startup with Cliff Obrecht.[5]
Career
Fusion Books
In 2007, Perkins and Obrecht founded Fusion Books, which let schools create yearbooks using an online drag-and-drop editor and template library. The business grew in Australia and later operated in New Zealand and France.[11]
Canva
Perkins and Obrech began pitching a broader design platform in the early 2010s and met investor Bill Tai during a visit to Perth. Through Google Maps co-creator Lars Rasmussen, who advised the project, they were introduced to former Google designer Cameron Adams, who joined in 2012 and became Canva’s third co-founder and chief product officer. Canva launched publicly in 2013 and has reported periods of profitability as it scaled.[12]
Personal life
Perkins and Obrecht married in January 2021 on Rottnest Island.[13] Later that year, they joined the Giving Pledge, committing at least half of their fortune to philanthropic purposes.[14]
As of May 2025, the Australian Financial Review assessed Perkins' and Obrecht's joint net worth as A$14.14 billion.[15] As of February 2026, Forbes estimated Perkins' net worth at US$7.6 billion..[16]
References
- ^ "Melanie Perkins and Ginia Rinehart revealed as Australia's youngest billionaires at age 36". news.com.au. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ Stanton, Kate; Griffith, Hywel (10 January 2018). "The 30-year-old woman who designed a $1bn business". BBC. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
- ^ "The World's Most Powerful Women 2023". Forbes.
- ^ "Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
- ^ a b Konrad, Alex. "Canva Uncovered: How A Young Australian Kitesurfer Built A $3.2 Billion (Profitable!) Startup Phenom". Forbes. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Writer, Contributing (10 July 2020). "Part Filipino Melanie Perkins now Australia's third-richest woman | The Philippine Times". Retrieved 15 March 2026.
- ^ "How a Sacred Heart girl built a $1b tech empire". The West Australian. 7 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Connelly, Claire (6 October 2015). "From making scarves to building a $165 million tech start-up: Canva's Melanie Perkins". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Zipkin, Nina (12 June 2019). "She Was Told 'No' 100 Times. Now This 31-Year-Old Female Founder Runs a $1 Billion Business". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ "Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht". Uniview. The University of Western Australia. 3 November 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Devine, Ruth (29 April 2020). "Canva founder Melanie Perkins turned idea into billion-dollar business". The CEO Magazine. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ^ Whittaker, Mark (21 February 2024). "Creating Canva: How Cameron Adams helped build a $39 billion juggernaut". Forbes Australia. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ^ Waters, Cara (22 February 2021). "Canva co-founder backs Facebook's move to ban news, slams 'stupid' tech regulation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Gamboa, Glenn (15 December 2021). "Canva founders join Bill Gates' Giving Pledge to give away most of their fortune". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
- ^ Redrup, Yolanda (30 May 2025). "Australia's wealthiest 200 revealed, fortunes blow past $667b". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
- ^ "Melanie Perkins". Forbes. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
External links
- Media related to Melanie Perkins at Wikimedia Commons