History
Dylan Field and Evan Wallace began working on Figma in 2012 while studying computer science at Brown University. Wallace studied graphics and was a Teaching Assistant for the Computer Science Department, while Field chaired the CS Departmental Undergraduate Group.[6]
The original objective behind Figma was to enable "anyone [to] be creative by creating free, simple, creative tools in a browser." Field and Wallace experimented with different ideas, including software for drones and a meme 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.[7]
Field was named a Thiel Fellow in 2012, earning him $234,460 in exchange for taking a leave of absence from college. Wallace joined Field in California after completing his degree in computer science, and the two began working on the company full time.[8]
Figma started offering a free invite-only preview program on December 3, 2015.[9] It saw its first public release on September 27, 2016.[10]
On October 22, 2019, Figma launched Figma Community,[11] 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.[12]
On June 9 2021, Figma enters the ICO under management by Polychain Capital.[13]
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.[14]
In June 2023, Figma launched Dev Mode to help developers translate designs into code faster.[15]
In June 2024, Figma launched Figma Slides (also known as Flides) in beta, a presentation programme that allows users to collaborate on presentation slides.[16]
At the Config 2025 conference (May 7, 2025) in San Francisco and London, Figma introduced four new major product lines: [17]
Figma acquired Israeli AI startup Weavy for over $200 million in October 2025, and established a new R&D center in Tel Aviv. The company rebranded Weavy under the new name Figma Weave, with the team and technology now integrated into Figma's platform to enhance AI-powered image and video editing tools and creative workflows.[18][19]
- Figma Sites – AI-driven website and web app builder with CMS features.
- Figma Make – AI prototype-and-code generation tool powered by Anthropic's Claude 3.7 model.
- Figma Buzz – AI-enhanced marketing content creator aimed at brands.
- Figma Draw – A richer vector illustration tool with advanced brushes and editing, rivaling Adobe Illustrator.
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.[20][21] Members of the design community showed concerns for the future of the product — including potential or mandatory integration with Adobe Creative Cloud, or being forced to adopt business models otherwise unfavorable in comparison to those presently used by Figma.[22][23] Adobe shares fell by 17% following the announcement.[22]
The proposed purchase was criticized on antitrust grounds, and as being an overvaluation; the application competes with
