Founders: Dylan Field (CEO), Evan Wallace
Launched:Â 2012
Headquarters:Â San Francisco
Funding: $332.9 million
Valuation: $10 billion
Key technologies: N/A
Industry: Enterprise technology
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0
Following a regulatory block of Adobe's $20 billion acquisition of Figma last December, the San Franciso software design firm received a $1 billion breakup fee and is forging ahead with product launches and further software partnering with Google.
Founded by CEO Dylan Field and Evan Wallace, the 14-year-old company was an attractive acquisition target for Adobe as a path to expand its suite of products into web-based design collaboration.
The fast growth of Figma's all-in-one product design functions accessed over a browser had become competitive with Adobe's lineup. This core innovation by Figma, akin to how Google Docs are shared and revised, takes the place of designers working in silos on desktop apps and struggling to keep track of various file versions.
Profitable and with approximately $600 million in annual revenue, Figma counts $333 million in funding from top venture firms Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital. Last year, the enterprise software company opened a regional headquarters office in Singapore, adding to new and larger offices in Berlin, Paris, London and Tokyo.
With Figma software, product designers can team up on projects across functions in real-time simultaneously, a feature well suited to the remote work era. The software's relatively low learning curve is another advantage. Figma competes with several specialists such as whiteboard app Miro and open source alternative Penpot, as well as fellow Disruptor company Canva.
Continuing to churn out new products, this January Figma launched Dev Mode, a new tool connecting the roles of design and development. Dev Mode provides multiple designers across functions the ability to share work in progress, streamline project management, brainstorm, and build with files stored in the cloud that can ultimately be turned into coded products.
A key part of Figma's growth strategy is forging partnerships. Late last year, Figma paired up with Montreal-based startup Work Louder to break into the hardware scene, launching the Creator Micro, a small, mechanical keyboard priced at $139 that helps designers tap custom shortcuts to the most often-used tools, and received favorable reviews.
Partnering with big tech, Figma has integrated its software tools with Google Workspaces, which lets teammates reference new designs in context, track workloads and access the right resources. Additionally, Figma expanded its relationship last year with Google for Education. Figma's design tools are now free on Chromebooks for school-age students in the U.S., previously limited to select high schools. Figma is bringing this educational partnership with Google to Japan.
Last year, Figma hired a chief marketing officer and hosted its first in-person conference since Covid. The event attracted 8,500 attendees and 200,000 registrants online, and Figma plans to hold the event again this June.
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