Figma is a

collaborative Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The f ...

web application A web application (or web app) is application software that is created with web technologies and runs via a web browser. Web applications emerged during the late 1990s and allowed for the server to dynamically build a response to the request, ...

for interface design, with additional offline features enabled by desktop applications for

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The feature set of Figma focuses on

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

and user experience design, with an emphasis on real-time collaboration, utilising a variety of vector graphics editor and

prototyping A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

tools. The Figma mobile app for Android and iOS allows viewing and interacting with Figma prototypes in real-time on mobile and tablet devices.

Features

Figma allows users to create designs in three different modes: design mode, prototype mode and developer mode. Design mode enables users to draw shapes, frames and components, apply styles and modify layers to organize your canvas.

Prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

mode creates interactive flows between frames and screens so that users can test UX, link frames to simulate navigation and set interactions like "On Click" or "While Hovering". Developer mode or ''dev mode'' allows users to inspect elements for code snippets, download assets marked for export, see variables and tokens, and view dimensions easily. These tools combined allow users to leverage Figma to create interactive designs for uses like web development. In May 2025 at Figma Config 2025, Figma announced Figma Sites in Beta. The feature allows designers to publish designs directly to the web.

History

Dylan Field and Evan Wallace began working on Figma in 2012 while studying

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. Wallace studied graphics and was a Teaching Assistant for the Computer Science Department, while Field chaired the CS Departmental Undergraduate Group. The original objective behind Figma was to enable "anyone obe creative by creating free, simple, creative tools in a browser." Field and Wallace experimented with different ideas, including software for drones and a

meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...

generator, before settling on web-based graphics editor software. In a 2012 article, the company's early scope was vaguely described by '' The Brown Daily Herald'' as "a technology startup that will allow users to creatively express themselves online." That article reported that the company's first ideas revolved around 3D content generation, and subsequent ideas focused on photo editing and object segmentation. Field was named a Thiel Fellow in 2012, earning him $234,460 in exchange for taking a

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they ar ...

from college. Wallace joined Field in California after completing his degree in computer science, and the two began working on the company full time. Figma started offering a free invite-only preview program on December 3, 2015. It saw its first public release on September 27, 2016. On October 22, 2019, Figma launched Figma Community, allowing designers to publish their work for others to view and adapt. On April 21, 2021, Figma launched a digital whiteboarding capability called ''FigJam'', allowing users to collaborate with sticky notes, emojis and drawing tools. In June 2022, Google for Education announced that it would be partnering with Figma to bring its design and prototyping platform, as well as ''FigJam'', to education Chromebooks. In June 2023, Figma launched Dev Mode to help developers translate designs into code faster. In June 2024, Figma launched Figma Slides (also known as ''Flides'') in beta, a presentation programme that allows users to collaborate on presentation slides.

Attempted acquisition by Adobe

On September 15, 2022, Adobe announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Figma for about $20 billion in cash and stock, the company's largest acquisition to-date, with Field remaining as CEO. Members of the design community showed concerns for the future of the product—including potential or mandatory integration with

Adobe Creative Cloud Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc., Adobe that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applicat ...

, or being forced to adopt business models otherwise unfavorable in comparison to those presently used by Figma. Adobe shares fell by 17% following the announcement. The proposed purchase was criticized on

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

grounds, and as being an overvaluation; the application competes with Adobe XD, which had begun to lose market share to Figma by 2021. John Naughton went as far as comparing the purchase to

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

's acquisition of

WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...

, a move that was intended to prevent it from growing into a competitor to Facebook's core businesses. On November 2, 2022, it was reported that the US Department of Justice had begun an investigation of the merger. In February 2023, it was announced the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

would review the acquisition under the European Union merger laws. On December 18, 2023, Figma and Adobe both announced they were mutually agreeing to abandon their merger, with Adobe citing that there was "no clear path to receive necessary regulatory approvals from the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority." Adobe said it would pay the $1 billion reverse breakup fee to Figma as part of the initial agreement.

Funding

In June 2013, Figma raised $3.8 million in seed funding (lead investor

Index Ventures Index Ventures is a European venture capital firm with headquarters in both San Francisco and London. It invests primarily in tech companies. History Index Ventures has its origins in a Switzerland, Swiss bond (finance), bond-trading firm cal ...

and Terrence Rohan). In December 2015, the company raised $14 million in Series A funding (lead investor Greylock). In February 2018, Figma raised $25 million in a Series B round (lead investor Kleiner Perkins). In February 2019, Figma raised $40 million in Series C funding (lead investor Sequoia Capital). In April 2020, Figma raised $50 million in a Series D funding round (lead investor Andreessen Horowitz). In June 2021, Figma raised $200 million in a Series E funding round (lead investor Durable Capital Partners). Figma was valued at more than $2 billion by April 2020 and $10 billion by the end of May 2021. After the Adobe acquisition of Figma at a $20 billion valuation fell through in December 2023, CB Insights noted that based on earning metrics, Figma would be worth between $8.3-9 billion. Figma filed for an IPO in April 2025.

References

External links