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Melanie Perkins
Melanie Perkins is an Australian technology entrepreneur and the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Canva, an online graphic design platform. She is known for being one of the youngest female CEOs of a tech startup valued at over one billion dollars. Under her leadership, Canva has grown into one of the world’s most widely used design tools.
Early Life and Education
Melanie Perkins was born in Perth, Western Australia, in 1987. Her mother is a teacher of Australian descent, and her father is an engineer of Malaysian-Filipino-Sri Lankan heritage. From a young age, she showed entrepreneurial spirit, selling handmade scarves at local markets when she was 14.
She studied communications, psychology, and commerce at the University of Western Australia. While teaching students how to use design software, she noticed that existing tools were too complex and difficult for beginners. This inspired her idea for a simpler design platform.
Career
Fusion Books
In 2007, Perkins co-founded Fusion Books with her business partner and future husband Cliff Obrecht. Fusion Books allowed students and schools to design and print their own yearbooks online. It became the largest yearbook publisher in Australia and expanded to France and New Zealand.
Canva
Building on the success of Fusion Books, Perkins co-founded Canva in 2012 along with Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, a former Google engineer. Canva officially launched in 2013 and offered drag-and-drop design tools that made it easy for anyone to create graphics, presentations, posters, and more.
Canva quickly gained traction and grew into a globally used design platform. As of 2024, it is valued at over $26 billion and is used in over 190 countries by businesses, schools, nonprofits, and individuals.
Personal Life
Melanie Perkins is married to Cliff Obrecht, her long-time business and life partner. The couple got married in 2021 and have pledged to donate most of their wealth to philanthropic causes as part of the Giving Pledge.
Recognition
Perkins has been featured on lists such as Forbes 30 Under 30, TIME100 Next, and Bloomberg 50 for her contributions to technology and entrepreneurship. She is widely regarded as a role model for young entrepreneurs and women in tech.
See Also
- Canva
- List of women CEOs of technology companies
- List of Australian entrepreneurs
External Links
- Canva Official Website
- Melanie Perkins on LinkedIn