No, Canva is not publicly traded. Retail investors can’t buy Canva stock directly today, so the realistic paths are waiting for an IPO, looking at comparable public names, or—if accredited—checking private secondary markets.
No, Canva is not publicly traded. Retail investors can’t buy Canva stock directly today, so the realistic paths are waiting for an IPO, looking at comparable public names, or—if accredited—checking private secondary markets.
Canva is one of the biggest private software names in the world, and that’s exactly why investors keep asking how to buy it. The company has massive consumer reach, a growing enterprise push, and fresh headlines around a $42 billion secondary share sale, which keeps IPO speculation alive.
At the same time, Canva is still private, so the path for ordinary retail investors is not straightforward. Here’s what Canva does, whether it trades publicly, what an IPO would require, and the closest ways to get exposure today.
What is Canva?
Canva is an online design and publishing platform built around a freemium SaaS model. Users can start free, then upgrade into paid products like Canva Pro and team or enterprise offerings. The company says it launched in 2013 and now serves users in 190 countries, supports 100+ languages, and has 220M+ monthly active users with 30B+ designs created.
It was founded by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams. Canva’s own materials say it has not had an official headquarters historically, though it has major hubs including Sydney and a flagship campus in Austin, Texas. The company said in 2021 it had more than 2,000 employees and was on track to exceed US$1 billion in annualized revenue; in 2025, it said annual recurring revenue had surpassed US$3 billion.
Is Canva publicly traded?
No, Canva is currently a privately held company and does not have a public ticker. There is no public parent company either, so retail investors cannot buy Canva shares on an exchange today.
Canva’s founders remain central to the business, and the company continues to present itself as an independent private company in its own materials. That means ownership is still concentrated in private hands rather than broadly available to public-market investors.
When will Canva go public?
There is no SEC S-1 filing for Canva yet, so there is no formal IPO process on the table right now. I also did not find an official statement from Canva saying it is staying private forever. What exists is market chatter: reporting in 2025 said the company was running a share sale ahead of a possible IPO, and some coverage described an IPO as likely in 2025.
The most recent clearly disclosed valuation I found was US$42 billion, from an August 2025 employee stock sale / secondary share sale. That tells you private-market demand is still strong, but it does not guarantee a listing. If you want to track a future IPO, watch for an S-1 filing, underwriter announcements, and any direct comments from the company about timing.
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For most retail investors, the first realistic option is to wait for an IPO. If Canva eventually lists, you would typically buy shares through a brokerage once trading begins, or try to participate in the offering through your broker if you qualify for IPO access. Until then, there is no normal public-market way to buy Canva directly.
There is no public parent stock to buy, so that route is off the table. The practical alternative is to invest in the closest public comparables that shareholders use as proxies for Canva’s business model: Adobe, Figma, and Microsoft. Those names won’t replicate Canva, but they do give you exposure to design software, collaboration tools, and subscription software.
A final route is private secondary markets, where accredited investors may sometimes access private-company shares through intermediaries. That path is limited, not guaranteed, and generally restricted to accredited investors. It is not the same as buying a public stock, and access can be sparse and expensive.
Indirect exposure: backdoor ways to invest
One clear indirect route I found is Fidelity Contrafund, which disclosed a holding in Canva Inc Class A as a restricted/private security. That gives public-fund investors some exposure, but it is diluted inside a much larger portfolio, so it is not direct ownership of Canva.
I also found a Reuters-linked report that Canva’s 2025 share sale was led by Fidelity Management, which suggests Fidelity-related capital exposure to the company. Separately, Canva has a partnership with HP, so HPQ is a public company with ecosystem exposure, though that is a business-partnership angle rather than a direct Canva stake.
Closest publicly-traded alternatives
The closest public comp is Adobe (ADBE), which is the broadest proxy for design software, creative tools, and subscription monetization. Figma (FIG) is the most direct workflow comp for collaborative design software and team-based product usage. Microsoft (MSFT) is not a pure-play Canva peer, but it overlaps through productivity, collaboration, and content-creation workflows.
Investors looking at Canva usually end up comparing it with those three because they are the most intuitive public alternatives for the same customer behavior: making, sharing, and collaborating on visual content. None is a perfect substitute, but together they frame the public-market version of Canva’s opportunity.
Recent news
The biggest recent development was Canva’s August 2025 employee stock sale at a US$42 billion valuation. That secondary sale gave employees and early investors a chance to sell shares and reinforced the idea that the company is still highly valued in private markets.
On the product side, Canva said 2025 brought the launch of its Creative Operating System, which it described as its biggest product launch ever. Canva also announced an expanded partnership with Getty Images and previously acquired Affinity in March 2024 to broaden its reach into professional creative software.
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If you want Canva specifically, the honest answer is that you cannot buy it directly in the public market today. The most realistic move is to wait for an IPO and watch for an S-1, or use private secondary markets only if you are accredited and can actually get access.
For everyone else, the better move is to treat Adobe, Figma, and Microsoft as the investable stand-ins. That is the path retail investors can actually use right now, and it gives you exposure to the same broad theme without pretending Canva is already public.
▌Common Questions
Frequently asked questions
+Is Canva publicly traded?
No, Canva is currently a privately held company and does not have a public ticker. There is no public parent company either, so retail investors cannot buy Canva shares on an exchange today.
+When will Canva go public?
There is no SEC S-1 filing for Canva yet, so there is no formal IPO process on the table right now. I also did not find an official statement from Canva saying it is staying private forever. What exists is market chatter: reporting in 2025 said the company was running a share sale ahead of a possible IPO, and some coverage described an IPO as likely in 2025.
+How can you invest in Canva?
For most retail investors, the first realistic option is to wait for an IPO. If Canva eventually lists, you would typically buy shares through a brokerage once trading begins, or try to participate in the offering through your broker if you qualify for IPO access. Until then, there is no normal public-market way to buy Canva directly.
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