Canva has rewarded many of its investors and early employees with a share sale worth $3.6 billion.
👉 Background: Canva, the design software, has become Australia's golden child, as one of the country's most successful private tech companies. Since it was founded in 2013, Canva has amassed a valuation of almost $40 billion.
👉 What happened: Canva has rewarded many of its investors and early employees with a share sale worth $3.6 billion, who were able to sell their shares in the private market and cash out on the equity they were holding.
👉 What else: All investors and employees with shares that had vested could participate in the share sale, and this event has turned some employees into overnight millionaires.
💡In a startup, vested shares are those that accrue over time, and employees can eventually sell.
💡When employees are offered equity, it's usually released slowly over a period of years rather than as a lump sum—that's called a vesting schedule. Vested shares are the ones that have been released and can now potentially be sold.
💡Companies like Canva use share vesting as an employee attraction and retention strategy. And, by initiating a share sale, Canva's been able to reward its early employees for sticking around for the long haul.
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