<p>Australian online design platform Canva is now valued at $40 billion, one of the company's founders said Wednesday, after securing a massive new round of investment.</p>.<p>The Sydney-based firm launched in 2013 and allows customers to design everything from T-shirts to business cards.</p>.<p>It is increasingly used by large companies as a tool to run collaborative design projects.</p>.<p>Co-founder Melanie Perkins announced Wednesday the firm had raised a further $200 million from institutional investors such as T. Rowe Price and Franklin Templeton.</p>.<p>"We're excited to share Canva is now valued at $40 billion," she said in a blog post.</p>.<p>"This milestone is a huge vote of confidence in what we're doing and where we're going."</p>.<p>The on-paper valuation would put Canva in the same league as some of Australia's largest mining, telecoms and banking institutions, some of them more than a century old.</p>.<p>Perkins has said the company wants to "be a force for good" in the world -- a vow made by other tech start-ups, with mixed results.</p>.<p>Around 130,000 non-profit organisations are said to get the premium version of Canva for free, and Perkins said she and partner Cliff Obrecht intend "to give the wealth away".</p>.<p>The pair announced they would commit "the vast majority" of their 30 percent equity stake in Canva "to do good in the world" through a foundation.</p>.<p>"It has felt strange when people refer to us as 'billionaires' as it has never felt like our money, we've always felt that we're purely custodians of it," she said.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>
<p>Australian online design platform Canva is now valued at $40 billion, one of the company's founders said Wednesday, after securing a massive new round of investment.</p>.<p>The Sydney-based firm launched in 2013 and allows customers to design everything from T-shirts to business cards.</p>.<p>It is increasingly used by large companies as a tool to run collaborative design projects.</p>.<p>Co-founder Melanie Perkins announced Wednesday the firm had raised a further $200 million from institutional investors such as T. Rowe Price and Franklin Templeton.</p>.<p>"We're excited to share Canva is now valued at $40 billion," she said in a blog post.</p>.<p>"This milestone is a huge vote of confidence in what we're doing and where we're going."</p>.<p>The on-paper valuation would put Canva in the same league as some of Australia's largest mining, telecoms and banking institutions, some of them more than a century old.</p>.<p>Perkins has said the company wants to "be a force for good" in the world -- a vow made by other tech start-ups, with mixed results.</p>.<p>Around 130,000 non-profit organisations are said to get the premium version of Canva for free, and Perkins said she and partner Cliff Obrecht intend "to give the wealth away".</p>.<p>The pair announced they would commit "the vast majority" of their 30 percent equity stake in Canva "to do good in the world" through a foundation.</p>.<p>"It has felt strange when people refer to us as 'billionaires' as it has never felt like our money, we've always felt that we're purely custodians of it," she said.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>