Australian tech unicorn Canva on April 24 announced its official launch in Vietnam, alongside the introduction of Canva AI 2.0 and a long-term investment strategy built on three pillars: economy, culture, and education.
At the launch event in Ho Chi Minh City, Canva representatives said the platform will roll out 500 Vietnamese-localised fonts, while expanding templates and design elements tailored for Vietnamese users. Canva also aims to deploy its Canva Academy training programme across 34 provinces and cities, targeting outreach to 1 million Vietnamese businesses, while maintaining and scaling the current volume of more than 20 million designs created on the platform each month.
To improve accessibility for users in Vietnam, Canva now supports local payment methods such as MoMo, ZaloPay and ShopeePay/SPayLater, in addition to credit and debit cards, enabling individuals and SMEs to access the platform through familiar and convenient channels.
The launch marks a new phase of expansion for the global design platform amid rapidly growing demand for digital content creation in Vietnam, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and in the education sector. Increasing pressure to produce multi-channel content, combined with limitations in specialised skills and costs, is creating gaps that technology platforms aim to address.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Tran Trong Tuyen, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, said the city is accelerating digital transformation and innovation under major policy directions, including Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, which identifies science, technology and digital transformation as key drivers of sustainable growth.
Ho Chi Minh City currently has around 500,000 active enterprises, of which approximately 97 per cent are SMEs, highlighting strong demand for technology adoption and digital transformation to enhance competitiveness. In this context, the city continues to welcome and facilitate both domestic and international technology and innovation enterprises to participate in the market, thereby promoting digital transformation in the business sector.
According to Ms. Elle Liu, Canva’s Vietnam Country Lead, the platform goes beyond being a creative tool, aiming to deliver tangible value to the community by developing users’ digital skills while reflecting Vietnam’s cultural identity. “Vietnam is a highly promising market with strong creative energy, playing a crucial role in Canva’s growth strategy in Southeast Asia. We hope that our official presence, together with the AI 2.0 toolkit, will enhance the competitiveness of workers, businesses, educators and creators in Vietnam on the global digital map,” she said.
In Vietnam, Canva has identified three strategic pillars:
Under the economic pillar, Canva positions itself as a partner supporting SMEs in strengthening brand-building capabilities and optimising operations through AI tools. The company is also partnering with platforms such as Shopee to offer free access for sellers, as well as collaborating with the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM). The integrated design platform is expected to help businesses become more proactive in communications and better adapt to the digital business environment.
In terms of culture, Canva aims to expand collaboration with Vietnam’s content creator community by providing tools and platforms to develop digital products that reflect local identity. This approach aligns with the broader trend of leveraging the creative economy in connection with indigenous cultural elements.
In education, Canva is rolling out programmes to support digital creative skills for teachers and students, including free solutions for the K-12 segment. The goal is to bridge the technology gap and promote more visual, interactive learning in digital environments.
At the event, Canva also introduced a suite of new features within the Canva AI 2.0 ecosystem, including automated design tools, presentation builders, integrated AI assistants, and solutions for converting text into images, videos, or graphics. These features build on innovations unveiled at the global Canva Create 2026 event.
In the long term, Canva said it will continue expanding its investment in Vietnam through public-sector partnerships, digital skills training, development of “Made in Vietnam” content, and the establishment of a local operations team.
Canva’s presence reflects a broader trend of international technology companies increasingly targeting Vietnam’s digital creative market, as digital transformation and the creative economy emerge as new growth drivers.
Founded in 2013, Canva is an online design, creativity and publishing platform with a mission to empower everyone to design anything and publish anywhere. The platform currently has more than 6 million users in Vietnam. According to Canva, over 20 million designs are created each month in Vietnam, with an average of 460 designs generated every minute.
Google translate