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 traders.
The cope with 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 traders after the VC first tipped in A$250,000 on the Seed stage in 2012.
Blackbird is Canva’s newest shareholder, with its holding value round A$5 billion. Based in 2012, the identical yr as Canva , the VC has backed the tech scaleup throughout eight rounds, most lately in September 2021, when Canva’s valuation peaked at A$54.5 billion in a $273 million raise. Blackbird subsequently valued its holding at $8 billion
However 12 months in the past, Blackbird, together with Canva’s different Massive Three VC traders, Sq. Peg and Airtree, minimize Canva’s valuation by 36% amid the broader carnage of personal tech firm valuations – most notably the Swedish BNPL fintech Klarna, which noticed its value drop 85%. In distinction Canva’s August 2022 estimate has held its floor during the last yr, regardless of more durable 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 traders is “an enormous vote of confidence” in Canva.
“As we transfer into the liquidity part of Blackbird’s early funds, we’re delighted to be returning capital to those that backed us proper at first, 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 entire 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 top of their mounted time period lives and it’s time to begin releasing among the returns again to traders. Whereas it’s a small portion of our complete holding, it’s a important return of capital to our traders.”
Baker hailed Canva as “an outstanding success story” and “among the best software program corporations on this planet”, demonstrating that Australia can produce large companies with world affect
“Canva continues to carry out exceptionally effectively off the again of its Worksuite and AI product releases, that are driving robust consumer and income progress,” 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 put up 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 might IPO” and now has US traders with expertise of seeing firm by means of to a public float.
“We’ve 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 sort of what public markets are on the lookout for,” he mentioned.
“However as we develop the strain 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 Instances Sq., congratulating after it was named as the most effective office for innovation by Quick Firm final month.
