World inTimelines

Timeline of Melanie Perkins

Melanie Perkins from her birth in 1987 to 2026: the yearbook business behind Canva, accessible design software, workplace tools, acquisitions, and philanthropy.

Category
Engineering & Technology
Tags
biography business computing women oceania
Events
13 events 1987 – 2026
Generated
by gpt-6

  1. Perkins is born in Perth

    Melanie Perkins was born in Perth, Western Australia. She later studied at the University of Western Australia, where tutoring students in design software helped her identify a market for tools that were easier to learn.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Perkins

  2. Perkins co-founds Fusion Books

    Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht started Fusion Books, a web-based service for designing and printing school yearbooks. Beginning with a specific publishing task allowed them to test collaborative online design before attempting a broader platform.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Perkins

  3. Perkins launches Canva with her co-founders

    Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams launched Canva publicly in August after assembling the company and securing early investment. Perkins led the business as chief executive, offering templates and drag-and-drop tools for creating graphics in a web browser.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canva

  4. Perkins expands Canva into paid workplace tools

    Under Melanie Perkins, Canva introduced Canva for Work, later called Canva Pro. The subscription added capabilities for professional users and teams, giving the company a paid product alongside its free design service.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canva

  5. Perkins leads Canva to profitability

    Canva reported its first profitable year under chief executive Melanie Perkins. Its growing subscription business supported expansion into printing, mobile applications, and additional languages, broadening the platform’s reach beyond its original browser-based design tool.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canva

  6. Perkins brings Canva into classrooms

    Canva launched Canva for Education under Melanie Perkins’s leadership. The free offering provided teachers and students with design and collaboration tools, extending the educational use of online publishing that had motivated her earlier yearbook business.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canva

  7. Perkins and Obrecht sign the Giving Pledge

    Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht joined the Giving Pledge, committing to give away most of their wealth. Their public letter connected Canva’s business growth with plans to support philanthropic work through the Canva Foundation.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge

  8. Perkins introduces Canva’s broader Visual Suite

    Melanie Perkins presented Canva’s expansion into a Visual Suite at its first Canva Create event. Documents, websites, and whiteboards extended the company from graphic design into a wider set of tools for workplace communication and collaboration.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canva

  9. Perkins introduces Magic Studio

    Melanie Perkins announced Magic Studio, a collection of artificial intelligence tools within Canva. The release brought text generation, image editing, and design generation into the platform, expanding automation across its creative workflows.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canva

  10. Perkins’s company acquires Affinity

    Canva acquired Serif, the maker of the Affinity design applications, while Melanie Perkins served as chief executive. The acquisition added professional tools for vector illustration, photo editing, and page layout to a company built around accessible browser-based design.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif_Europe

  11. Perkins introduces Canva Sheets and Code

    At Canva Create in April, Melanie Perkins introduced Visual Suite 2.0, including Canva Sheets and Canva Code. The products extended Canva into spreadsheets and the generation of interactive elements from natural-language descriptions.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Perkins

  12. Perkins’s foundation expands direct cash support

    The Canva Foundation, supported by Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, committed an additional $100 million to GiveDirectly’s work in Malawi. The funding supported direct cash transfers and research on their effects across an entire district.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GiveDirectly

  13. Perkins launches a global goals initiative

    Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht launched the Global Goals Platform, inviting people to describe changes they wanted in their communities and the world. The initiative aimed to inform philanthropic priorities through public input, with early pilots in the United States and Australia.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Perkins