Canva’s productivity push is starting to gain traction—and in Southeast Asia, it’s happening on phones

Canva, the Australian design startup, has reported that its users have generated a staggering 4.5 billion presentations and 1.4 billion documents on the platform. The company's recent push into productivity software is gaining traction, particularly in Southeast Asia, where mobile platforms are becoming increasingly important. According to Cameron Adams, Canva's cofounder and chief product officer, users create nearly 3,000 presentations and 1,000 documents every minute on the platform.

Canva's Visual Suite, launched in 2022, was revamped in April 2025 to include spreadsheets and coding tools. The company's Docs feature is now the third-most popular design type, with adoption tripling in the past three years. In Southeast Asia, more than half of presentations created start on a phone, with these numbers rising to three-quarters in the Philippines and almost two-thirds in Indonesia.

Seventy-five percent of Indonesian users access Canva through a mobile device, making mobile a critical platform for the company in these markets. AI is playing a significant role in this shift, making the phone a more capable work machine through features like voice input. However, Canva is facing challenges in keeping AI costs manageable, which has led to a reduction in revenue growth forecast to 20%. The company aims to complete its IPO in 2027 as it continues to expand its AI services.