# Cliff Obrecht

> Cliff Obrecht is the Australian co-founder and chief operating officer of Canva. He and Melanie Perkins first tested their idea for simpler, collaborative design through Fusion Books, a Perth school-yearbook business, before founding Canva with Cameron Adams. Obrecht became the operating and deal-making counterweight in a company that now serves more than a quarter of a billion people each month, while he and Perkins have tied its growth to a two-step plan: build a valuable company, then use that value to do good.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Canva
- **Organizations:** Canva, Fusion Books, Canva Foundation
- **From:** Perth, Australia
- **Nationality:** Australian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education, The University of Western Australia
- **Known for:** Co-founded Fusion Books, which grew into the largest school-yearbook company in Australia before expanding to New Zealand and France., Co-founded Canva with Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams and serves as chief operating officer., Helped scale Canva from its 2013 launch to more than a quarter of a billion monthly users worldwide by 2026.

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Co-founded Fusion Books with Melanie Perkins, applying simple online design tools to school yearbooks.
- **2012** — Began the Canva project with Perkins; Cameron Adams joined as the third co-founder.
- **2013** — Launched Canva and became its co-founder and chief operating officer.
- **2017** — Canva launched in 100 languages, marking a major step in its global expansion.
- **2021** — Obrecht and Perkins publicly committed the bulk of their Canva wealth to charitable causes through the Canva Foundation.
- **2024** — Canva acquired professional creative software company Affinity; Obrecht announced the deal in Canva's newsroom.
- **2025** — Shared five lessons from Canva's growth at VivaTech Paris, including going global early and hiring first-principles thinkers.
- **2026** — Represented Canva at Web Summit Qatar and described the company's approach to localized design content, AI and Affinity.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Fusion Books, which grew into the largest school-yearbook company in Australia before expanding to New Zealand and France.
- Co-founded Canva with Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams and serves as chief operating officer.
- Helped scale Canva from its 2013 launch to more than a quarter of a billion monthly users worldwide by 2026.
- Helped establish Canva's freemium growth model and global expansion strategy.
- With Perkins, committed most of their Canva wealth to charitable causes and backed a major GiveDirectly cash-transfer program in Malawi.
- Signed the Giving Pledge with Perkins in 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Obrecht and Perkins launched the Global Goals Platform through the Canva Foundation to ask people worldwide which changes they most want to see in their lifetimes.
- **2026-04** — Canva introduced Canva AI 2.0 as a research preview, calling it the company's most significant product evolution since launch.
- **2026-02** — At Web Summit Qatar, Obrecht discussed localized content, responsible AI and Affinity's free model; Canva also agreed to establish a regional headquarters in Dubai and support 250,000 SMEs and individuals over five years.
- **2025-10** — Canva announced an additional US$100 million commitment to GiveDirectly, bringing the planned total for work in Malawi to US$150 million.
- **2025-06** — Obrecht presented five lessons from more than a decade of Canva growth at VivaTech Paris.

## Links

- Website: https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/author/cliff/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliff-obrecht-79ba9920/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/cliffobrecht
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFa859qPGE

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/cliff-obrecht
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26