PitchBook: the Adobe deal makes Figma the largest VC-backed exit in 20+ years; source: Figma's biggest outside shareholder is Index Ventures with a 12%+ stake
Index Ventures' 12%-plus stake makes it the largest outside beneficiary of Adobe's $20B payment, ahead of other early holders like Greylock.
The $20B price resets the M&A reference point for design and collaboration software, raising the ask for every comparable late-stage target.
Second-order effects
Once the deal fell apart in 2023, Coatue, Alkeon and General Catalyst substituted private capital for the missing acquirer at a $12.5B valuation, bridging Figma to a public listing instead.
An independent Figma kept competing head-to-head with Adobe rather than folding into it, preserving a two-player structure in collaborative design tools.
Third-order effects
Figma's arc — record M&A exit, collapsed deal, then the largest US venture-backed tech IPO by market cap since Rivian — shows exit routes flipping with regulatory and market appetite rather than company quality.
Index's $11B+ in proceeds across Figma, Google's Wiz acquisition and Meta's Scale AI investment points to venture returns concentrating in a small set of funds able to hold through both M&A and IPO windows.
The trend: Venture liquidity is cycling between record acquisitions and record IPOs, with a handful of top-tier funds capturing outsized proceeds whichever window opens.
THREAD: This morning we're announcing that @Figma has entered into an agreement to be acquired by @Adobe ! More information here: https://figma.com/... (1/9)
I'm not surprised that Adobe is acquiring Figma for $20B, nor that Wall Street doesn't understand it and $ADBE stock is down more than $20B today. It's a smart move for Adobe because it's nearly impossible to make legacy software applications multi-user collaborative. Thread: 🧵
If Figma keeps doubling in ARR for the next 3 years, they'll be doing $3.2B in rev That's a 6x multiple which ADBE is paying now to keep out of hands of MSFT $3.2B is roughly 13% of ADBE's projecte '25 revs of $25B 13% of ADBE's pre-deal market cap is roughly $20B
Congratulations @figma and @zoink on the largest acquisition of a private tech company ever. @kleinerperkins couldn't be more proud of the team + look forward to what you all accomplish as part of the @Adobe family.
“At the outset, Field told Rimer he would spend up to three years developing Figma's design tools before releasing them to the public. “It wasn't an incremental, small thing,” Rimer said.” Respect for the conviction 👏🏽👏🏽 https://twitter.com/...
Sequoia led Figma's Series C round in 2019, valuing the company at $440 million. It invested a total of $97 million for a 6% stake in the company worth $1.2 billion at the time of the Adobe deal. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...