Adobe acquisition target Figma launches new hub in Singapore

Figma’s popular tagline/ Photo credit: Collins x Figma

Figma, the collaboration software company that got acquired by Adobe in a US$20 billion deal last year, has opened its Asia-Pacific hub in Singapore.

Yuhki Yamashita, Figma’s chief product officer, tells Tech in Asia that the company wants to tap into Southeast Asia’s fast-growing tech scene and stronger demand from firms and institutions to digitalize their products and “build things in house.”

“Some of the most successful apps here look very different from those in Silicon Valley too,” says Yamashita, who had a four-year stint at Uber. “Grab is a great example of the super-app approach that is just not common in the US.”

Figma already counts some of the biggest tech names in Southeast Asia as clients, including Grab, Traveloka, GoTo, and Sea Group. Yamashita says the Singapore-based hub will enable the company to diversify its customer base, serving “anyone who’s building an app, a screen, a display” for users to interact.

According to Yamashita, about 80% of Figma users are outside the US, so there’s a need to localize certain features, including languages. Co-founder and CEO Dylan Field noted in a blog post that Figma doesn’t want to follow the “English-only approach.”

The Singapore office is led by Scott Pugh. This is the second Asian location for Figma after it expanded to Japan in 2022. The company also localized its platform into Japanese to increase local adoption.

Yamashita also doesn’t rule out the possibility of partnering with teams in Southeast Asia that align with the firm’s “mission to make product design more accessible.”

Figma was founded in 2012 by Field and Evan Wallace, both of whom had met when they were computer science students at Brown University.

In 2022, Adobe shocked the design world by agreeing to buy Figma for US$20 billion. Both sides have reaffirmed that Figma will operate independently inside Adobe.