5 days ago
45. Figma
Founders: Dylan Field (CEO), Evan WallaceLaunched: 2012Headquarters: San FranciscoFunding: $332.9 millionValuation: $12.5 billion (PitchBook)Key Technologies: N/AIndustry: Enterprise technologyPrevious appearances on Disruptor 50 list: 1 (No. 26 in 2024)
Design software was once dominated by desktop applications that created fractured workflows, locked users into specific platforms and hindered collaboration. Figma founders Dylan Field and Evan Wallace had something different in mind: a professional-grade design tool built for the internet. The two wanted to reimagine design software, drawing inspiration from real-time, multi-user platforms like Google Docs.
The idea took off in 2012 when Field received a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship, prompting him to drop out of Brown University to start Figma. When the product launched in 2016, it was initially dismissed as a lightweight alternative to established desktop software. But Figma soon won over professionals with its robust features, flexibility and version control.
The company has since evolved into a broader platform that supports the entire product development lifecycle. In addition to the design tool, Figma now includes FigJam for virtual whiteboarding, Slides for presentations, Dev Mode, an interface for developers translating designs into code, and Figma Make, a "vibe-coding" tool that uses AI to help automate the process of building websites and applications.
Figma clients include Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and Ikea, plus nearly 100 U.S. federal agencies, including the IRS and the Department of Education. More than 85% of its users and half of its revenue come from outside the U.S. Moreover, active users increasingly include non-designers such as marketers, product managers and executives.
The company made headlines in 2022 when Adobe announced plans to acquire the company for an eye-popping $20 billion. But after 15 months of regulatory scrutiny and mounting antitrust pressure from EU and UK authorities concerned about reduced market competition, the deal was abandoned. Figma walked away with a $1 billion breakup fee. In May 2024, it held a tender offer allowing current investors, including current and former employees, to sell their shares in a deal that valued the company at $12.5 billion.
To date, the company has raised $332.9 million in funding from prominent investors like Greylock, Sequoia, and Andreessen Horowitz — not including the $1 billion from Adobe. The company filed for an initial public offering in April, even as other tech companies delayed their IPOs amid the market volatility caused by Trump's tariff announcements.
Despite posting record revenue every quarter in 2024 while remaining cash-flow positive, the company now faces growing competition from both traditional players and startups like fellow Disruptor Canva. The growing prevalence of AI-powered design tools is costly, and return on investment for customers remains a major question, which Field acknowledged in a comment last year to CNBC that the company is "eating the cost" of AI adoption for now.
"We're gonna eat the cost for 2024, because we don't know how people are going to use the features yet. We don't know how many of you will care, we don't know how good they get," Field said in a June 2024 interview with CNBC.
