Martin Brundle
Sky Sports F1 Lead Analyst & OBE | Former F1 Driver | 1988 World Sportscar Champion | 6x RTS & 4x BAFTA Award Winner
Melanie Perkins
Co-Founder & CEO of Canva | One of the World's Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaires | Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women | Tech Entrepreneur & Innovator
Melanie Perkins is the co-founder and CEO of Canva, the design platform she grew from a rejected startup idea into a company valued at $42 billion with more than 240 million monthly users. Rejected by over 100 investors, she is now one of the world's youngest self-made female billionaires and has pledged the majority of her stake to charity. On stage, she shares a masterclass in persistence, vision, and building something enormous.
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Melanie Perkins biography
Melanie Perkins is one of the most remarkable entrepreneurs of her generation, the co-founder and CEO of Canva, the design platform she built from a dismissed idea in Perth into one of the most valuable technology companies on earth. Her story is a study in stubborn belief: rejected by more than a hundred investors, doubted for building outside Silicon Valley, she went on to create a company used by hundreds of millions of people and to become Australia’s only self-made female billionaire.
Entrepreneurship speaker Melanie Perkins launched Canva in 2013 with Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, on the conviction that design should be accessible to everyone, not locked behind expensive, complicated software. Today the company is valued at roughly $42 billion, serves more than 240 million monthly users across 190 countries, and is used by the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies, all while remaining profitable for eight consecutive years. Named to the Forbes list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, she leads the most valuable startup in the world both founded and run by a woman.
From 100 Rejections to a $42 Billion Company
Perkins started her first business at fourteen, selling handmade scarves, and at nineteen co-founded Fusion Books, an online yearbook platform that became Australia’s largest and served as the blueprint for what came next. The early years of Canva were defined by relentless persistence: pitching investors who could not see it, learning to kitesurf to get in front of one who might, and rebuilding the product’s foundations rather than settling for a quick win. Under her leadership Canva has since expanded aggressively into artificial intelligence and enterprise software, and she and Obrecht have joined the Giving Pledge, committing the vast majority of their stake to the Canva Foundation and the fight against extreme poverty.
As a speaker, Melanie Perkins offers audiences something rare: the unvarnished story of building a global company from nothing, told by the founder still running it. She speaks on entrepreneurship and turning an unlikely idea into a world-leading business, resilience and persistence in the face of rejection, scaling a mission-driven company and culture, and leading through the AI era. Audiences leave genuinely inspired, and with a clear-eyed understanding of what ambition, patience, and conviction actually look like in practice.
Melanie Perkins Speaking Videos
Canva's Story: From Idea to Startup to World Leader with Melanie Perkins | SXSW Sydney 2024 Keynote
Canva Create: Uncharted Keynote 2025
Melanie Perkins Keynote Topics
Perkins tells the full story of Canva, from noticing university classmates struggling with design software to building a company worth tens of billions. She shares the decisions that mattered, the pivots, the patience, and the long bets, and gives audiences a rare, candid look at what it actually takes to turn a simple observation into a global business.
Before Canva succeeded, Perkins was turned down by over a hundred investors and dismissed for building far from Silicon Valley. In this talk she explores persistence not as a slogan but as a practice: how to keep conviction alive through sustained rejection, how to use hard questions to sharpen an idea, and how to keep moving when nobody else can see what you see.
Canva has grown to hundreds of millions of users while staying profitable and holding onto a clear sense of purpose, including a pledge to give away the vast majority of the founders' stake. Perkins shares how she has scaled culture alongside headcount, kept a company anchored to its mission through hypergrowth, and built an organization where commercial success and social good reinforce each other.
Perkins has steered Canva through one of the fastest technological shifts in software history, embedding AI across a product used by hundreds of millions. She offers a practical, grounded view of how leaders can adopt AI at speed without losing what makes their product and people distinctive, and what it means to compete when the ground is moving this quickly.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Melanie Perkins
Why Melanie Perkins?
Booking Melanie Perkins gives audiences one of the most inspiring and credible founder stories in modern business, told by someone still living it. She built Canva from an idea nobody wanted to fund into a company valued around $42 billion, serving more than 240 million people, and did it from Australia while more than a hundred investors said no. A Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women honoree and a Giving Pledge signatory who has committed the bulk of her fortune to charity, she brings genuine substance on entrepreneurship, resilience, culture, and AI, not just celebrity. For any audience of founders, executives, or teams facing long odds, few speakers land harder. She is an ideal speaker for events on entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, and leadership. To bring Melanie Perkins to your next event, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Who is Melanie Perkins?
Melanie Perkins is an Australian technology entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Canva, the online design platform she launched in 2013 with Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams. Born in Perth in 1987, she previously co-founded Fusion Books, which became Australia's largest yearbook publisher. Under her leadership Canva has grown to more than 240 million monthly users and a valuation of roughly $42 billion, making it the world's most valuable startup both founded and led by a woman. She has been named to the Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women and is Australia's only self-made female billionaire.
How did Melanie Perkins start Canva?
The idea for Canva came while Perkins was a student at the University of Western Australia, where she tutored classmates on design software and saw how expensive and difficult the professional tools were. She and Cliff Obrecht first tested the concept with Fusion Books, an online yearbook design platform, before launching Canva in 2013 with technical co-founder Cameron Adams. Raising money was famously hard: she was rejected by more than a hundred investors, in part because of skepticism toward an Australian startup, and even took up kitesurfing to meet investor Bill Tai. Canva launched on a freemium model, reached unicorn status by 2018, and has grown relentlessly since.
What topics does entrepreneurship speaker Melanie Perkins cover?
Melanie Perkins speaks on entrepreneurship and building Canva from an idea into a global business, resilience and persistence through rejection, scaling a mission-driven company and culture, and leading through the AI era. Her keynotes suit events on entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, leadership, and women in business. To book Melanie Perkins as a speaker, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
How to book Melanie Perkins as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Melanie Perkins as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Melanie Perkins's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Melanie Perkins or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Melanie Perkins speaking fee?
Melanie Perkins speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Melanie Perkins to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Melanie Perkins.
How can I contact Melanie Perkins?
We only work with Melanie Perkins on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Melanie Perkins and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Melanie Perkins speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Melanie Perkins for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Melanie Perkins for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Melanie Perkins is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Melanie Perkins for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
