Canva: liquidity as a retention tool, not a funding need

The situation

Canva, the Australian design-software company, reached profitability relatively early and has been reported as cash-generative for years — meaning it hasn't needed to raise primary capital the way most companies at its valuation typically do. That's unusual: most of the case studies in this series involve a company raising money and using part of the round for secondary liquidity. Canva didn't need the money. It ran tenders anyway.

How the deal worked

Canva has run periodic employee share sales — including a reported 2021 valuation mark near $40 billion and further tenders since — that function primarily as a compensation and retention mechanism rather than a byproduct of fundraising. Because the company wasn't raising new primary capital in these events, participating investors were there specifically to buy existing shares, agreeing on a price with the company (again typically anchored to a recent internal valuation or an independent third-party valuation) and purchasing directly from consenting employees.

The outcome

Employees got predictable, scheduled liquidity despite Canva showing no urgency to IPO — reducing the pressure that normally builds around a long-private, high-growth company. Because the tenders weren't tied to a capital need, Canva retained more control over its cap table composition and timing than a company forced to trade a full primary round for the option to include a secondary component.

What it teaches

A company doesn't need to be raising money to run a secondary liquidity program — profitable, well-capitalized companies increasingly treat tenders as a standalone HR and cap-table tool, separate from their financing strategy entirely.