Canva employees: the IPO prep window is now.

What's publicly known

What Canva employees are deciding now

1. Should I exercise my options before the IPO? This is the highest-stakes decision most Canva employees face, and the answer is rarely obvious. The FMV implied by the August 2025 tender (~$1,646/share) likely means a large spread on most outstanding options — which triggers real costs depending on your grant type. Read the next section before acting.
2. What will the tax bill look like at IPO? For employees with unvested RSUs, a double-trigger IPO settlement could produce significant ordinary income in a single tax year. For option holders, it depends on grant type and when you exercise. Either way, the withholding at settlement almost never covers the real bill.
3. What is my equity actually worth today, and how concentrated am I? At $42B valuation, meaningful grants are large numbers — and if equity represents most of your net worth, that's a concentration problem waiting to announce itself on IPO day. Decide your target before you can sell, not after.
4. Am I eligible for a future tender or secondary? The August 2025 window is closed. Whether Canva runs another before an IPO (or instead of one) is unknown. Waiting for the next window is a valid choice — but it should be an intentional one, not a default.

Option exercise timing: what changes near an IPO

Canva employees typically hold common stock options — either incentive stock options (ISOs) or non-qualified stock options (NQSOs) depending on when and how they were granted. The mechanics differ significantly at exercise:

• NQSOs: Spread at exercise (FMV minus strike) is ordinary income in the year of exercise, withheld like wages. You know the bill the moment you click "exercise."
• ISOs: Spread is not ordinary income — but it is an AMT preference item. A large spread at the current $1,646 implied FMV can produce significant alternative minimum tax even if you don't sell a single share. Run the numbers before exercising; our ISO/AMT calculator gives a rough estimate.
• The long-term capital gain clock. To get LTCG treatment on ISOs, you must hold the shares at least two years from grant date and one year from exercise date. Exercising early — if your options allow it — can start that clock. But early exercise at $1,646/share FMV doesn't make sense for most: the 83(b) election strategy is most valuable near grant when FMV is low. Shares already at $1,646 face a massive spread on early exercise whether or not you file the election.
• Expiration risk. Options expire. Most startup options expire 10 years from grant (or 90 days post-termination if you leave before IPO). If you've been at Canva since the early years, check your expiration dates — some grants may be approaching 10 years.

For a rough model of exercise cost and AMT exposure, use the ISO/AMT calculator. For realistic post-IPO diversification scenarios, the concentration calculator shows what your glidepath looks like at different lockup speeds.

US vs. non-US employees

Canva is Australian-founded with offices in Sydney, San Francisco, and internationally. US-based employees typically receive options or RSUs taxed under US rules (ordinary income at exercise/vest, potential ISO AMT treatment, LTCG on appreciation held long enough). Non-US employees — especially in Australia — face different frameworks: Australia's ESOP tax rules, CGT discount mechanics, and the absence of an AMT equivalent. This page focuses on the US context. Australian and other non-US employees should review their equity alongside local tax counsel; the instrument names and timing may look the same, but the tax math is different.

If the IPO happens: what to do first

1. Collect your grant documents before anything else. Type (ISO/NQSO/RSU), grant date, strike price, vesting schedule, expiration dates — you can't plan without these. If Canva converts option types on restructuring or issues new RSUs ahead of the IPO, the terms will be in those documents.
2. Model the settlement tax before the first day of trading. IPO-day RSU settlement = ordinary income at settlement-day price. If you're in a 37% federal bracket, the 22% supplemental withholding leaves a 15-point gap on every dollar. The gap needs cash, not a plan to sell later.
3. Set a concentration target now, while you can't trade. "What percentage of my net worth should one volatile stock be?" is a question with an answer that's worse under pressure. Decide it now; the lockup schedule gives you a phased glidepath to execute it.
4. Expect a lockup period. Modern tech IPOs typically have 90–180 day lockups, often staggered (multiple windows based on earnings releases or price triggers — see how SpaceX structured theirs). Your calendar and sell quantities need to be pre-committed before each window opens.
5. Fund estimated taxes quarterly. A large vesting event in Q1 means a Q1 estimated payment due in April — not April of the following year. The IRS penalty for underpayment is modest, but not planning the cash at all is a common mistake.

Just want to buy Canva before the IPO?

Pre-IPO shares for outside investors run through secondaries and SPVs with their own terms, fees, and risks. This site is for holders — current and former employees planning what they already have. For educational context on how secondary access works, see the selling pre-IPO shares guide. We don't arrange or solicit investments in private securities.

Ready to model your equity before the window opens?

Get matched with a fee-only fiduciary who specializes in pre-IPO equity — exercise timing, AMT modeling, IPO settlement taxes, lockup glidepaths, and concentration planning. Free, no obligation.