Adobe has announced that it’s acquiring Figma, a popular design platform, for around $20 billion in cash and stock. After rumors surfaced early on Thursday about a potential acquisition, Adobe made it official in a press release shortly afterward. It’s big news in the design and development world, particularly as Figma has been competing heavily with Adobe’s XD products in recent years.
“Together, Adobe and Figma will reimagine the future of creativity and productivity, accelerate creativity on the web, advance product design and inspire global communities of creators, designers and developers,” claims Adobe. “The combined company will have a massive, fast-growing market opportunity and capabilities to drive significant value for customers, shareholders and the industry.”
Figma was first founded 10 years ago by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace, and the collaborative design platform has become key for many businesses in recent years. Thousands of designers and developers at Microsoft rely on Figma every day to build Office, Windows, and more. It’s used so heavily at Microsoft that it has been testing the company’s relationship with Adobe, a close partnership that will only get closer now.
Figma is all about the web, which is something Adobe and other rivals have been struggling to compete with. Adobe now plans to combine its own community with Figma, and it’s likely that will involve bundling Figma products and services into Adobe Creative Suite at some point in the future.
Until then, Figma will remain untouched for now. “We plan to continue to run Figma the way we have always run Figma — continuing to do what we believe is best for our community, our culture and our business,” explains Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma. “Adobe is deeply committed to keeping Figma operating autonomously.” Field will continue to serve as CEO and report to Adobe president David Wadhwani.
Figma also wants to leverage Adobe’s expertise in 3D, video, vector, imaging, and fonts to greatly improve product design on the web. Field says the combined company will build “new tools and spaces to empower customers to design products faster and more easily.”
Adobe hasn’t detailed its long-term vision or plans yet, but the company is holding a conference call with investors at 7AM PT / 10AM ET this morning, so we might get a better idea of Adobe’s plans later today.
