Mahesh Muralidhar
Chief Executive Officer
At 14, I moved from Singapore to Napier, New Zealand, on my own—beginning a journey that took me from India to Auckland and eventually across the world. After earning my degree from the University of Auckland, I began my career in professional services, which took me to Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Montreal, Mumbai, and eventually Sydney. I completed my MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management and launched my first startup in 2013. Not long after, I joined Canva as one of its earliest leaders, helping scale the company from 25 to nearly 400 employees. I’ve been a founder, part of the early leadership team at Canva, and held senior roles in a variety of major startups. After years overseas, I returned to New Zealand to help grow the early-stage startup ecosystem. I founded Phase One Ventures and nurtured a powerful founder community—today, 80% of our portfolio is backed by institutional venture capital. In 2023, I ran for parliament in the Auckland Central electorate with the National Party.