Canva’s Coming-Out Party at Goldman’s Private Tech Confab

Down rounds, lackluster initial public offerings and growth slowdowns aside, an unlikely new star appeared in the startup world last week. Canva—an Australian design startup that has kept a relatively low profile despite a $25 billion–plus valuation—was the central focus of Goldman Sachs’ wooing at its annual private investor conference in Las Vegas, where top venture capitalists and mutual funds hatched deals with startups.

Bankers fawned over a Canva co-founder on stage. Attendees whispered about a lavish private dinner hosted by Goldman’s top boss, David Solomon, for another Canva co-founder and other executives at hot startups. Investors told me about Canva’s nearly $2 billion in annualized revenue, accelerating growth rate of 50% a year, and positive cash flow. The company was trying to gin up more interest from them to buy shares from early investors and employees, just months after it completed a similar deal, attendees told me.