Angel investor · Chief Operating Officer · Founder, Canva
Every published round Cliff Obrecht took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorikeet | Series A | Aug 2025 | $54m | Participant | Startup Daily (23 Dec 2025), SmartCompany (23 Dec 2025), Startup Daily (14 Oct 2025), Cut Through Venture, Startup Daily (13 Oct 2025), SmartCompany (6 Oct 2025), SmartCompany (8 Aug 2025), Startup Daily (7 Aug 2025), Athletic Ventures portfolio, Blackbird Ventures portfolio, Square Peg Capital portfolio | |
| Propeller | Unnamed stage | 18 Apr 2023 | $22.8m | Participant | SmartCompany (21 Apr 2023), Startup Daily, SmartCompany (18 Apr 2023) | |
| Fingerprint For Success | Seed | 3 Feb 2023 | $5m | Participant | SmartCompany, Forbes Australia |
Companies Cliff Obrecht has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Propeller | 18 Apr 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| Lorikeet | AI/Big Data company | Aug 2025, Series A | 1 | 0 |
| Fingerprint For Success | 3 Feb 2023, Seed | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Cliff Obrecht, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Cliff Obrecht has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Cliff Obrecht did.
Stories naming Cliff Obrecht. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Canva is pushing productivity tools like Docs and Sheets to win enterprise subscribers from Microsoft and Google, while slowing its AI rollout to control costs and trimming its revenue growth forecast.
Filings show Canva backed Sharon AI's US$103 million December 2025 raise with Regal, Ellerston, Digital Alpha and others; the Sydney compute provider has since floated on Nasdaq and raised US$2.15 billion more.
Also Dealroom
Blackbird announces its new early-stage and growth funds have brought in A$1.05 billion, reflecting on early cheques, portfolio outcomes like Eucalyptus's sale, and new international backers.
Also Dealroom·Dealroom·AFR Technology·Startup Daily·Business News Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia
Weekly roundup: Constantinople raises $62.5m; Blackbird wraps fund six above $1b; Guardhouse buys Mobohubb; SCX.ai debuts on the ASX; plus seed rounds, exits and executive changes across the ecosystem.
Capital Brief's roundup: superannuation policy plans, a NSW data centre planning dispute, KPMG resisting a break-up, Stripe and Canva leaders on AI, Stripe's local Treasury push, and Culture Amp's data policy change.
At a Sydney event, Canva's co-founder explained how soaring compute bills forced a delay to its AI relaunch, and how homegrown models cut serving costs; he also recalls early government backing.
Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht says its AI engineers now work side by side in a shed at the Surry Hills campus, tackling problems behind delayed AI products, speaking alongside Stripe's John Collison.
Blackbird and Airtree mark Canva's worth down sharply, the employee share price falls too, and commentators question whether a 2027 sharemarket float remains realistic amid sliding confidence in AI-era software.
Perth solar-glass maker ClearVue has signed a $600,000 subcontract to fit Canva's new Sydney headquarters, converting May's preliminary agreement, shortly after a $6.25 million capital raise.
Canva's long-serving technology chief is leaving mid-year, his deputy taking a restructured technology leadership role, as the design platform expands its AI features and works toward a planned 2027 public listing.
Interview with Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins on the release of Canva AI 2.0, its agentic and memory features, and Anthropic's Claude Design launch, which builds on the two companies' partnership.
Blackbird partner Rick Baker recalls backing Canva's founders in 2013 and argues its 2026 AI launch extends that founding purpose to a new frontier.
Canva has bought AI agent platform Simtheory and marketing software Ortto from the Sharkey brothers, who also founded Stayz — its fourth and fifth purchases this year, prices undisclosed.
Canva has bought Sydney AI startup Simtheory and marketing automation firm Ortto, its fifth and sixth acquisitions in ten months, as it repositions from design tool to AI workplace platform; no prices disclosed.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·This Week in Australian Startups
Design company Canva has bought US marketing AI startup Mango.AI and UK animation platform Cavalry, its fifth acquisition in two years, adding their founders and a chief algorithms officer to its team.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Leaked details from Blackbird's investor day showcase Airwallex and Canva as standout performers, record valuation cuts for Culture Amp and SafetyCulture, and detail Kiki's New York shutdown and settlement.
Propeller Aero's chief executive Rory San Miguel has won the Pearcey Foundation's 2025 NSW entrepreneur award; the profile traces his path from UNSW clubs and Flirtey to the drone surveying company.
Startmate reflects on a decade of backing founders, profiling breakout alumni across its cohorts and describing how its mentors reinvest in newer startups, alongside its fund model and returns.
Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht says a public float looks more attractive now, arguing its fresh venture-capital valuation undervalues the company; AI product launches and possible price rises were also flagged.
Canva launched an employee share sale valuing the design software firm at $42 billion, led by Fidelity with JPMorgan's asset arm joining, ahead of a planned IPO; US rival Figma listed last month.
Canva is letting staff sell shares at a $65.3 billion valuation, with Fidelity and JP Morgan's asset management arm among those buying, ahead of a possible listing this year.
Also pe-insights.com·Forbes Australia·scroll.media·Fortune Term Sheet·techtimes.com·Crunchbase News·Crunchbase News
Sydney AI customer-support startup Lorikeet has closed US$35 million in a Series A led by QED Investors, its third round in under a year, lifting total funding beyond $75 million.
Also SmartCompany·Cut Through Venture·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
A Forbes Australia writer demos Veo 3, Google's AI video model with synchronised audio, now offered inside Canva, with Canva executives and a Google product director discussing the feature, safeguards and usage figures.
Canva has bought Sydney marketing-analytics startup MagicBrief. Terms undisclosed. The deal follows the startup's 2023 pre-seed raise led by Blackbird and Archangel Ventures.
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A retrospective on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia alumni, covering Timee's Japanese listing, Canva's secondary share sale, Airwallex's series E and acquisition, and Kopi Kenangan's unicorn round.
Investible's 2024 review letter highlights its early-stage and climate-tech investing, Club Investible's tenth anniversary event with Canva and Deputy founders, and pitches from Harvest B and Syenta.
Canva has hired Zoom finance chief Kelly Steckelberg as its new CFO, nine months after Damien Singh's exit, as the design software firm weighs a US float.
Also Women's Agenda
A fresh sale of existing shares has lifted Canva's valuation to about $48.7 billion from $38.5 billion in January, boosting the co-founders' wealth and edging the design software firm toward a possible public listing.
Also Fortune Term Sheet
Women's Agenda interview with Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins on her SXSW Sydney conversation with investor Mary Meeker, covering Fusion Books, Silicon Valley rejections, and the early backers who funded the design platform.
Opinion piece on the buzz around a musical number promoting Canva's enterprise offering at its Los Angeles event, noting cofounder Cliff Obrecht's approval, huge viewership and the company's US listing ambitions.
Forbes Australia profiles Canva's enterprise relaunch after a demo with COO Cliff Obrecht, covering new sales, marketing and HR tools; Airtree's co-founder recalls the firm's early backing of the company.
Profiles Australia's ten wealthiest women from the AFR's new list, alongside Canva's in-progress share sale, a large gift to a global gender-fund vehicle, and one backer's earlier healthtech round.
Canva is turning a purchased Sydney office tower into its eighth global campus, with headcount up by more than a thousand; the piece recalls its fund for paying creators whose content trains its AI.
Canva launched Magic Studio, ten generative AI tools bundled into existing subscriptions at no extra cost, alongside a royalty program for creators and an enterprise security platform.
SmartCompany marks a decade of Canva, recounting its Perth origins, the money it raised, its acquisitions of two stock-photo sites, and Blackbird's sale of Canva shares.
T. Rowe Price marked down its Canva stake by 67.6%, implying a value near $13 billion versus the $40 billion set in 2021; Canva disputes the figure, citing profitable growth.
Fingerprint for Success, an AI coaching platform, has closed a $6.5 million second seed round led by Investible, with Canva's founders investing again; its lifetime funding now totals $9.2 million.
Fingerprint for Success, maker of AI coach Marlee, raised $5 million in an Investible-led seed round, lifting total funding to $9 million, with participation from Five V Capital, Salesforce Ventures and several high-profile angels.
Also SmartCompany
Roundup of female-founder wins: Reejig raises $15m, Healthy Mummy acquired by Halo Food Co for $17m, Shebah exits administration, Canva donates to Afghanistan relief, and CBA buys into Paypa Plane.
Canva has completed its acquisition of London data-visualisation startup Flourish, adding 44 staff and 800,000 customers, after earlier 2021 purchases of Kaleido and Smartmockups; terms were undisclosed.
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