How Investment Banks Are Helping Canva, Stripe, Figma Stay Private

When Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon gathered two dozen tech executives, bankers and investors to a wine and steak dinner in Las Vegas last November, seated next to him was Cliff Obrecht, co-founder of Canva, a $26 billion privately held design software company.

Canva is exactly the kind of company Goldman would look to take public one day—profitable and growing fast. But Solomon’s investment banking giant wasn’t waiting for an initial public offering to do business with the firm. Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm was the largest investor in Canva’s $1.5 billion secondary share sale, which was completed last month, investors briefed on the deal said. Meanwhile, Goldman’s investment bankers advised Canva on what was one of the largest private company tender offers in history, which allowed both early investors and employees to sell.