Canva CFO Damien Singh’s departure is software company’s greatest test

This masthead is not suggesting that Singh is guilty, just that allegations have been made. Singh was contacted for comment but did not reply.

“Creating a safe environment for everyone is our number one priority,” a Canva spokesman said. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behaviour and we’re fully committed to thoroughly investigating and actioning any instances of this.”

What happens next represents a critical moment for Canva and for the Australian technology sector at large.

The company is currently worth about the same as Telstra, with a valuation of around $39 billion. Its success or otherwise will help shape the fortunes of Australia’s technology sector, as Atlassian had before it. The company has indicated that it will likely list on the Nasdaq in the US, which would cement its position as a Sydney-born global technology heavyweight.

To date, Canva had managed to successfully straddle the line between scrappy and serious.

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“We’ve always been scrappy,” co-founder Melanie Perkins told me last year. That’s been a large part of the company’s charm and what has allowed it to innovate and grow so quickly.

But the company will no doubt be keen to appoint a CFO with the experience – and the temperament – to steer its next steps as it looks to woo investors, particularly in the US.

A source close to Canva who is not authorised to speak publicly said the company is already casting the net widely for Singh’s successor, and may consider a CFO based in the US.

The matter also represents a pivotal moment for Australia’s start-up sector more broadly. This is a sector that for a long time now has had to grapple with the uncomfortable truth that despite all of its lustre – and growing economic heft – issues such as inappropriate behaviour are still rife.

For a sector that often demands better of the media, members of Australia’s start-up scene need to be far more transparent – whether they’re dealing with journalists or their own employees – if they’re to be taken as seriously as their economic importance demands. New initiatives like Grapevine – a platform for members of the sector to anonymously share their stories – are a welcome step.

Greater transparency will lead to accountability, and a safer and stronger start-up sector. Start-ups like Canva are known for being fun and exciting places to work, but this month’s events have revealed the ugly truth that they aren’t immune to some of the worst aspects of corporate culture. The sector’s diversity numbers are still appalling and won’t improve until the culture improves.

Many women have either left the technology start-up sector or avoided it altogether due to issues around inappropriate behaviour, and the sector is poorer for it.

For Canva, how its co-founders handle the current fallout, as well as who they select as Singh’s successor, will serve as a litmus test if the company is ready to be treated as the mature, grown-up tech company that it aspires to be.