Canva Was Ignored By 100 VCs & Is Now Valued At $40 Billion
By: Nina Atimah
July 2, 2026
Melanie Perkins didn’t look like a typical tech founder. She was young, non-technical, and based in Australia. That was enough for more than 100 investors to pass on Canva. Now, Canva is one of the most valuable startups in the world. The graphic design platform serves 230 million users and pulls in $3 billion in revenue. Perkins is the only woman to have founded a unicorn at this scale. And she did it while being overlooked.
