Around 85% of Figma’s weekly active users are from outside the US, and a substantial number of them are from India, Field said on the sidelines of the Slush technology summit 2024 in Helsinki, Finland.
“I look forward to spending more time in India and finding ways to do our part to help the tech and designing ecosystem there,” Field said without confirming any specific plan or timeline for the company’s expansion into India. He, however, noted that they may kickoff operations with sales and marketing to support new and existing customers in the region.
Indian brands like Zomato, Swiggy, Cred and Groww are already using the platform to scale their design process. Also, India leads in the Asia Pacific region with 44% integration of the firm’s cloud-based design tools, according to a recent report by the company.
“There is a real revenue opportunity in India. It is a myth that you cannot monetise India,” said Field, adding that as Figma spends more time in India, it will be able to find areas to improve its services there. “Right now, the (India) market seems underserved and it is important for us to be there.”
San Francisco-headquartered Figma was founded in 2012 by Field and Evan Wallace—both computer science enthusiasts from Brown University, US as a visual design product. The platform is used by designers, product teams and developers to create user interfaces (UI) and user experiences (UX), and is known for its cloud-based accessibility and real-time collaboration features, akin to Google Docs.
Discover the stories of your interest
Valued at around $12.5 billion, Figma also supports prototyping, shared design systems, and a range of plugins and integrations, besides being a community repository of templates and resources that enhance its functionality, positioning it as a strong competitor to older design players like Adobe and Sketch.Figma’s product suite includes FigJam for brainstorming and ideation, Figma Design for software design, and Dev Mode, which helps developers translate designs into code.
Field said there is a possibility of building more services like a ‘loop’, where developers can think about what comes in the later stages after coding, and then eventually bring all that back into ideation on the Figma platform. “If we can accomplish that, then we are really special,” he said.
Adobe deal falling through
In 2022, the Photoshop maker Adobe announced plans to acquire Figma for $20 billion. However, last year, in a big blow to both companies, they jointly declared the termination of the deal following scrutiny from UK and EU regulators on antitrust issues. Adobe was obligated to pay Figma a reverse termination fee of $1 billion in cash. Field addressed the fallout, saying they will now build the products independently which they would have developed if the deal had gone through.
“It is impossible to know the counterfactual, but here we are, and we have tons to build. And the same things we are going to build if the deal has gone through,” Field said.
Impact of AI
On the role of artificial intelligence in the design process, Field highlighted that AI has been effective in lowering entry barriers for newcomers by simplifying and automating the more basic aspects of design, making it more accessible and approachable for everyone.
“Our general framework is to make it easier for people to facilitate more design process along with making sure that they only the work that experts can do,” he said.
Figma recently faced a setback with its AI-powered design tool, ‘Make Design,’ after it generated outputs resembling the Apple weather app. This raised concerns about the tool’s reliance on existing app designs during its training process. Some critics argued that it was too dependent on pre-existing designs. In response, Figma temporarily disabled the feature.
The reporter was in Helsinki at the invite of Business Finland.