Figma Just Flipped the Design World (and the Market) on Its Head
How a failed $20B acquisition, a billion-dollar breakup fee, and a blockbuster IPO turned Figma into the defining tech comeback story of 2025.
FIG 0.00%↑ soared 250% in its NYSE debut. And another 20% in pre-market.
What started as a $33/share IPO ended the day at $115.50, giving Figma a near $68B market cap, more than triple what Adobe tried to buy it for two years ago.
Here’s how a once-shelved acquisition turned into the biggest design-tech listing in history, and what it signals for the IPO cycle ahead.
If you’ve ever worked on a digital product — an app, a website, even a slide deck — there’s a good chance you’ve used (or seen) Figma in action.
Figma is an online design tool, but calling it that undersells what it really does.
It’s like Google Docs for designers, a real-time, cloud-based space where product designers, developers, and project managers all work together. No messy files. No version control nightmares. Everything lives online, updates instantly, and invites collaboration across teams.
Since launching in 2012, Figma has grown into a go-to platform for companies like Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Uber, and countless startups.
And it’s not just designers using it anymore. Figma has become a place for non-designers too. Product managers, marketers, engineers, even founders. As of this year, more than two-thirds of its 13 million monthly active users aren’t designers at all.
From Takeover Target to Market Star
Back in 2022, Adobe (ADBE 0.00%↑) offered $20B to buy Figma, hoping to eliminate its biggest threat in product design. Regulators weren’t buying it.
By 2023, the U.K.’s CMA concluded the deal would "likely harm innovation," and Adobe walked, paying a $1B breakup fee.
That made Figma one of the few private tech companies to:
Say no to Big Tech
Keep growing independently
Walk away richer
Why Adobe Wanted Figma:
Figma was rapidly taking market share from Adobe XD.
Adobe lacked a true cloud-native design tool.
Figma was considered a major long-term threat to Adobe’s Creative Cloud dominance.
What Went Wrong:
Regulators (especially the EU and UK’s CMA) raised antitrust concerns, fearing it would reduce innovation and create monopoly power in design software.
Adobe eventually canceled the acquisition in December 2023, agreeing to pay a $1 billion breakup fee to Figma.
The IPO That Set a New Standard
Fast forward to July 31, 2025:
Priced at $33/share
First trade: $85
Stock halted after passing $112
Closed at $115.50 (+250%)
Valuation: $68B
Pre-Market: $139.3 (+20.67%) at time of writing
That’s a 250% gain in a single day, and a final market cap of nearly $68 billion. For context: that’s over 3x what Adobe offered just two years ago.
Most of the IPO proceeds didn’t go to Figma itself. They went to early investors like Sequoia Capital, Greylock, Index Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins, who’ve been with Figma since its early days.
But Figma still raised $1.2 billion in the process. That’s plenty of dry powder to keep growing.
Fundamentals That Justify the Hype?
Figma isn’t a meme. The numbers are real:
Q2 revenue: $247M–$250M
Operating income: $9M–$12M
YoY growth: ~40%
Monthly active users: 13M+ (mostly non-designers)
Enterprise clients: 1,000+ paying $100K+/yr
Key customers: Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Uber
It’s become the collaboration operating system for digital product teams.
Meet Dylan Field, the 33-Year-Old Founder Behind It All
Dylan Field started Figma when he was just 20. Today, at 33, his stake in the company is worth over $6 billion.
But in interviews, he’s keeping things grounded.
“The most important thing to remind myself and the team is that share price is a moment in time,” he told CNBC.
He emphasized that Figma’s focus hasn’t changed, it’s still about listening to customers, building great tools, and empowering teams to do their best work together.
That kind of long-term mindset is rare, especially on IPO day. But it might be part of why investors trust him.
Why This IPO Matters More Than Just Figma
This isn’t just a Figma story. It’s a sign that the IPO market is finally coming back to life.
Since the IPO market froze in early 2022, tech companies have been waiting for the right moment. This year has brought a slow thaw with names like Chime, Circle, CoreWeave, Hinge Health, and Omada Health going public.
But none had a debut like Figma’s.
Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE, said Figma’s success could “open the floodgates” for other tech IPOs. She’s not wrong.
With a strong business model, a profitable core, and massive demand from investors, Figma just showed that great software companies can still have blockbuster public debuts, even in a cautious market.
Source: The Economic Times
So What Happens Now?
Figma’s future is wide open.
They’re now competing directly with Adobe, Atlassian, Notion, Miro, and a host of other tools in the digital collaboration space.
But they’ve got an edge:
A sticky product that teams love
Huge expansion potential beyond design
A culture that’s still scrappy despite the scale
Whether they double down on dev tools, expand into AI-powered design, or build the next-gen productivity suite, they now have the brand, capital, and momentum to take some big swings.
And if the broader IPO market does pick up again? Figma will be remembered as the spark that reignited it.
Final Takeaways
Ticker: $FIG
IPO Date: July 31, 2025
Price: $33 → Close: $115.50
Valuation: ~$68B
Revenue (Q2): $247M–$250M
Net Income: Small but positive
Growth rate: ~40% YoY
Users: 13M+
Enterprise penetration: 1,000+ large customers
Strategic Angle: Cross-functional SaaS for product teams
Backstory: Adobe tried to buy it for $20B in 2022. Regulators blocked it. Figma IPO’d two years later at 3x the valuation.
The information in this post is for educational and informational purposes only. It reflects the author’s personal research and analysis, which may be subject to error or omission. This is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment or trading decisions.