Why Canva Was Smart to Hold Off on an IPO

A couple of years ago, design software firm Canva was one of the hot startups to watch, on everyone’s list of IPO candidates. But it sat out last year’s IPO class and now finds itself in an awkward spot. Not only is software out of favor with investors, who fret about how AI will disrupt it, but giant offerings coming from SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic will overshadow the IPO market this year and maybe next as well.

Canva, which sells software tools for creating and refining visual content, such as graphics for social media posts and videos, may have been lucky that it waited. Figma, which did go public last year, has seen its shares fall below its IPO price as part of a broader sell-off in software stocks. Canva has a decent chance of avoiding that outcome, however, if it holds off for a while longer. The company plans to go public next year, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.