Cameron Adams said that India is leading the way in its efforts to create richer experiences for people on the ground. (Express Image/Canva)
“By thinking globally, we can create a truly local product with a local team that thinks deeply about the experience that people have in Delhi, Bengaluru, Gujarat and all over India,” said Cameron Adams, Canva co-founder and chief product officer. The popular online design platform has been witnessing phenomenal growth since its launch in 2013. Adams, who is on his maiden visit to India, said that the country is leading the way by going deeper and creating richer experiences for people on the ground.
During a media roundtable on Thursday, Adams revealed India’s strategic significance for the Australian platform. He reiterated that India has emerged as the company’s fourth-largest market globally. The platform recently crossed $2.5 billion in annualised revenue and is currently working towards localisation and pricing strategies to capture the Indian market.
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Talking about India, Adams shared that Indians have created 666 million designs in just one year. “Every one of those designs has a point of impact for that person who created it—whether they’re creating presentations, flyers, wedding invitations, social media posts, or videos,” he said. Canva’s breakthrough in India can be attributed to its understanding of local needs, especially pricing solutions that are specific to the market. The platform had introduced sachet pricing, such as Rs 69 for one-day access and Rs 149 for a week. This model has resonated with scores of Indian users, and Adams and Chandrika Deb, Canva’s country manager for India, said that the company has plans to implement it in other countries.
“We understand that when it comes to value sensitivity and price sensitivity, India is a very different market. We’ve invested in making sure that while we want to empower everybody in India to design, we don’t make pricing a barrier for our users,” Deb said.
As part of its localisation efforts, Canva is set to launch a comprehensive Hindi website, which the company claims is a significant leap in end-to-end local language experience. “Through this Hindi website, we want to make sure that even small businesses in tier two and tier three cities can reach out to their customers in the most effective manner and tell their stories effectively,” Deb said while teasing a preview of the Hindi interface.
Canva’s Hindi website.
The latest addition comes at a time when Canvas is witnessing a significant adoption of its platform in India, especially in the professional domain. The duo also spoke about the company’s recent research that stated that as many as 79 per cent of hiring managers in India predict that simple resume templates will soon phase out, and 87 per cent of Indian job seekers see AI becoming integrated into the resume creation process.
When asked if there were plans to launch the interface in more regional languages, Deb said that the platform wants to cater to diverse internet users. “Canva is currently available in about 11 Indian languages, including Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, and Marathi. However, we aim to go beyond simply localising the app’s user interface and create a fully immersive experience. We’re investing in this localisation effort while maintaining affordable pricing, with a one-day subscription at Rs 69 and a one-week subscription at Rs 149,” she told indianexpress.com.
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Adams briefly touched upon Canva’s evolution from being a consumer-centric design tool to an enterprise solution provider. “95 per cent of the Fortune 500 now use Canva across various departments in their business,” Adams said. During the interaction, Adams also shed light on the company’s vision for AI, which was moving much beyond prompts toward integrating more interactive and nuanced collaborations.
He emphasised the goal of creating a dynamic partnership between users and AI, allowing them to engage in back-and-forth dialogues, make specific edits, and collaboratively shape text and images, thus enhancing creativity and customisation.
Meanwhile, Deb also shared that Canva is making significant inroads in the education sector, especially in India. According to her, Canva for Education, which provides Canva Pro features free to K-12 schools, has seen strong adoption. “Through partnerships that we’re building, we want to make sure that every school in India has access to Canva for Education,” Deb said.
Bijin Jose, an Assistant Editor at Indian Express Online in New Delhi, is a technology journalist with a portfolio spanning various prestigious publications. Starting as a citizen journalist with The Times of India in 2013, he transitioned through roles at India Today Digital and The Economic Times, before finding his niche at The Indian Express. With a BA in English from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, and an MA in English Literature, Bijin's expertise extends from crime reporting to cultural features. With a keen interest in closely covering developments in artificial intelligence, Bijin provides nuanced perspectives on its implications for society and beyond. ... Read More
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