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US product design software company Figma has filed for an initial public offering that will test investor appetite for tech listings as Donald Trump’s tariffs roil global financial markets.
Figma on Tuesday said it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, paving the way for an IPO.
Market volatility unleashed by the president’s fast-changing tariffs policies has chilled the market for new US listings that many bankers had expected to explode back to life under a Republican administration after a three-year drought.
The American president’s steep levies on trade have weighed on global equities markets, and US stocks in particular, as investors worry that they will knock the world’s economy.
Several big IPOs were postponed after Trump launched his “liberation day” tariffs in early April, including a $15bn float of fintech Klarna and a $50bn listing for medtech company Medline.
Cloud computing group CoreWeave went public in late March after slashing the size and value of its IPO amid wavering investor demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Shares in the company have gained just over 2 per cent.
Figma said the number of shares and the price range for a potential public offering had not been determined. It was valued at $12.5bn in a share sale to employees and investors last year, with participation from existing investors including Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz. It has raised about $333mn across seven funding rounds.
A confidential filing with US regulators allows companies to privately move forward with their plans to list before publicly unveiling their documents closer to pursuing a flotation.
One person close to the listing process told the Financial Times that Tuesday’s announcement was a sign that Figma felt confident in the strength of its business despite the current market turmoil.
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In late 2023, the San Francisco-based company came close to being acquired by Adobe, which eventually abandoned its proposed $20bn acquisition following scrutiny from UK and EU watchdogs.
Figma specialises in online software for designing apps and websites, while Adobe makes a broad range of digital marketing and creative tools, including Photoshop and InDesign.
Regulators had been concerned that Adobe would take out a potential competitor and had pressed the companies to ensure a deal would divest overlapping operations, such as Adobe’s Illustrator or Photoshop, or Figma’s core product, Figma Design.
