Australian web design start-up Canva raises $6m

Blackbird Ventures and AirTree Ventures also took part in the round.

With this latest investment, the start-up's overall funding has surpassed $12 million. Founders Fund and Shasta Ventures led a $3.6 million round in July last year, while Matrix, Blackbird, InterWest Partners, and 500 Startups put in $3 million in March 2013.

Headquartered in Sydney, Canva is an online graphic design platform that provides templates and tools for social media graphics, presentations, posters, blog graphics and invitations. The start-up says it has grown its user base to 2.4 million, creating more than 15 million designs, with over 200,000 organizations represented.

It plans to use the new funding to rollout its new "Canva for Work" product, which is due for launch in June. The capital will also go towards bulking up the company's Sydney-based engineering team, while extra cash will be funnelled into marketing and promotions. In April of last year, Canva hired Apple's former chief evangelist Guy Kawasaki to help build its brand internationally.

The site makes money through a "freemium" model - it is free to use with income generated through a catalog of paid images and portfolios offered by professional designers. However, the new offering will be subscription-based and is intended to allow the company to broaden its customer base to include larger organizations.

"Canva is one of those very rare companies that experiences rapid growth as a utility tool," said Josh Hannah, a partner with Matrix, in a statement. "It's phenomenal to see the fan base behind Canva and the immense potential of their new product."

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