Melanie Perkins, Canva

When Melanie Perkins was 19, she created a very simple website for designing and publishing yearbooks. In her first year of university, Perkins needed to use graphic design and publishing software, like Microsoft Publisher and Adobe InDesign, but was frustrated. The programs were so complex, it could take an entire semester to really know what you were doing. But Perkins had a big idea – she wanted to make design simpler and more collaborative.

Along with her boyfriend, and co-founder, Cliff Obrecht, Perkins put together a small, web-based business to help teachers make yearbooks more easily. The site grew rapidly and there were soon over 300 schools using Fusion Books. It became the perfect proof-of-concept to launch what Perkins had originally envisioned – a one-stop-shop design site. In 2010, she met a Silicon Valley investor, pitched the future of publishing, and in 2013, Canva was born.