Figma, a cloud-based design platform, has met with investment banks in recent weeks to discuss an initial public offering that could come as soon as this year, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The talks come after European and U.S. regulators stymied an effort by the software giant Adobe to buy Figma for $20 billion in 2023. Figma’s chief executive, Dylan Field, has said the regulatory scrutiny meant another sale was likely off the table.
Many bankers had expected antitrust enforcers under President Trump to take a laxer approach to mergers and acquisitions than those under the Biden administration. But in January, the Justice Department blocked a deal between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks, suggesting continued scrutiny.
Many tech companies instead appear to be gravitating to potentially going public. CoreWeave, a provider of cloud computing services for artificial intelligence, has filed for an offering and is set to be a test of Wall Street’s appetite for A.I.-related companies. Discord, a social chat app, and StubHub, a ticketing software company, are both in early discussions about a potential public offering this year.
A spokesman for Figma declined to comment. Mr. Field said at a conference last year that the company was on a path to going public.
Founded in 2012 in San Francisco, Figma offers free, cloud-based tools and services for designers and developers. It accepted Adobe’s $20 billion acquisition offer in 2022, with Adobe later paying Figma a $1 billion breakup fee when the deal ran aground.
In the aftermath, Figma raised additional funding from investors including Coatue and General Catalyst at a $12.5 billion valuation.
In recent years, Figma has aimed to expand its product offerings and work on A.I. tools. Its products include an online whiteboard tool called FigJam for users to brainstorm and collaborate on different projects, and Figma Slides, a PowerPoint-like product for creating presentations. In 2023, the company introduces its first hardware product, a keyboard for designers to program shortcuts to their most frequently used design tools.
The products have helped fuel Figma’s business globally. More than 85 percent of its weekly active users are outside the United States, according to Figma, and more than half of its revenue comes from international customers.
Figma has said it wants to continue expanding beyond designers. Roughly two-thirds of its customers identify as something other than designers, and one-third of its user base are software developers.
Figma has opened offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Berlin in recent years. It has more than 1,400 employees.
