How to invest in Figma pre-IPO

After Adobe's attempted $20 billion acquisition of venture-backed design software company Figma fell through at the end of 2023, it might have seemed like Figma's momentum would stall.¹

While its valuation initially took a big hit — falling in half to its last primary funding round valuation of $10 billion² shortly after the Adobe deal failed to materialize³ — Figma has tried to bounce back, such as by launching new AI offerings and a slide deck tool.⁴

Meanwhile, it remains an IPO candidate. Although no specific plans to go public have been announced, Figma's CEO, Dylan Field, noted at a Bloomberg Tech conference in May 2024 that they previously explored the M&A path, and as a venture-backed company, there's essentially only one other path that would make sense, which would be an IPO.⁵

If/until a potential IPO gets announced, however, investors might be looking to get in on the action while Figma remains a private company, as pre-IPO Figma stock has had strong performance in recent months.⁶

Here, we'll take a closer look at how to invest in Figma stock pre-IPO.

Figma: Company background

Figma was started in 2012 by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace (Figma's former CTO, who left in 2021⁷), who met at Brown University.⁸ The origin story includes Field, a Thiel Fellowship recipient, dropping out of school to focus on building Figma,⁹ while Wallace graduated from the computer science program that year.¹⁰

However, it took time for Figma to take more of its current shape as a collaborative, online design platform for creating tools like apps and websites. It wasn't until the end of 2015 that Figma launched its platform privately¹¹ before opening it up to the public in 2016.¹²

Since then, Figma has become one of the most popular design tools, particularly for those in UI/UX. Its success caught the eye of software design giant Adobe, which tried several times to acquire the company before the latest attempt fell through in 2023.¹³

As of mid-2024, Figma was reportedly profitable and had annual revenue of around $600 million for fiscal year 2023.¹⁴

Figma stock and funding history

Figma's Seed round took place in 2013, when the startup raised $4 million at a $16 million valuation, with a stock price of $0.09 per share. This round included funding from angel investor Adam Nash, Index Ventures, and several others.¹⁵ The Figma Series A took place in 2015, raising $14 million at a nearly $77 million valuation and a $0.20 per share stock price, with several repeat investors along with new ones such as Greylock Partners and ICONIQ Capital.¹⁶

In 2018, the Figma Series B raised $25 million at a valuation of nearly $159 million and a $0.33 per share stock price,¹⁷ in a round led by Kleiner Perkins.¹⁸ The following year, the Figma Series C raised $40 million, led by Sequoia,¹⁹ bringing the startup's valuation to $440 million and a stock price of $1.10.²⁰

In 2020, Figma took a big leap forward with its Series D, raising $50 million at a $2 billion valuation, bringing Figma's stock price to $4.62.²¹ This round was led by Peter Levine and Marc Andreessen at a16z.²²

Figma's last primary funding round came in 2021, when the company raised $200 million for its Series E, bringing the Figma stock price to $21.30 at a $10 billion valuation.²³ This round was led by Durable Capital Partners, along with new investors such as Morgan Stanley's Counterpoint Global.²⁴

Following the fallout of the Adobe deal, Figma had a tender offer led by Fidelity in May 2024, which valued the company at $12.5 billion.²⁵

In recent months, Figma's Forge Price™ has also seen strong gains. While it dipped in early 2024, it has had a significant recovery in recent months, with Figma's Forge Price now at $31.34 as of early February 2025, implying a $14.72 billion valuation.²⁶

Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information, secondary market transactions, and indications of interest (IOIs) on Forge.

How to buy Figma stock

Since Figma is a private company, its stock is not for sale to the general public. If Figma does eventually go public, then its stock would be more readily available.

For now, investment is typically limited to high-net-worth or institutional investors chosen to participate in primary funding rounds or strategic investments. However, if existing investors decide to/are able to list shares for sale on a secondary marketplace such as Forge, then accredited investors could potentially buy pre-IPO Figma stock.

Who can invest in Figma pre-IPO?

Because regulations limit private companies offering securities for sale, you generally have to be either an institutional or high-net-worth individual invited to participate in primary funding rounds to invest in Figma pre-IPO, or sometimes startups like Figma reach agreements with investors who come on as strategic investors outside of primary funding rounds.

However, sometimes private company shareholders like employees or early investors list pre-IPO stock for sale on a secondary marketplace, such as Forge. In those cases, accredited investors — those who meet certain financial or professional qualifications — could then invest in Figma stock pre-IPO, subject to availability.

Where to buy pre-IPO Figma stock

Since Figma is still a private company, Figma stock is limited in terms of who can buy shares and where. However, accredited investors may be able to buy Figma stock pre-IPO through a secondary marketplace such as Forge, subject to availability. However, that depends on existing Figma shareholders being able to/deciding to list on Forge, so availability can be limited, if available at all.

That said, those who are interested in investing in startups such as Figma pre-IPO may wish to create an account with Forge and speak with a Private Market Specialist to stay informed about whether pre-IPO Figma stock or similar shares become available through Forge.

Alternatives for unaccredited investors who want to buy Figma stock

Although retail investors typically cannot directly invest in Figma stock before it potentially conducts an IPO, there are some other ways to gain indirect or related exposure.

One option is to invest in competitors such as Adobe, which is a publicly traded company. Although the two compete in many ways, there's a case to be made that growth in the overall design software market would benefit both companies, thus investing in Adobe could provide correlated exposure to Figma.

Relatedly, companies like Microsoft and Alphabet are publicly traded and have some design and UI/UX-related tools that have some overlap with what Figma sells. Still, these tech companies are involved in many areas that Figma is not, so this would only provide very limited, indirect exposure.

That said, investing in companies that compete with Figma in some ways can also be risky in the sense that Figma could take market share from these other businesses, and thus the stock performance might not provide you with the Figma exposure you're seeking.

How to analyze Figma stock

Like most private companies, details on Figma's financials are relatively limited, and thus analyzing Figma stock can be more complicated than it is for publicly traded companies. That said, Figma does have some reported financial data, such as its approximately $600 million in annual revenue in 2023.²⁷

Looking at available data like this, along with information such as the progression of Figma's primary funding rounds, could potentially provide some insight into what Figma stock should be valued at — particularly when comparing Figma's valuation to comparable startups trading on private marketplaces like Forge. Still, this type of analysis can be quite subjective and speculative.

Looking at publicly traded companies like Adobe, which competes with Figma, can also potentially provide some clues as to how to value Figma. That said, private companies are typically valued differently than public companies due to differences in areas like liquidity risk. Plus, it's still hard to draw clean lines between public and private companies, given the lack of financial data for companies like Figma. Thus, investors may have to determine more of a personalized analysis style that works for their risk tolerance and goals.

Get started investing in Figma on Forge

If you want to invest in Figma pre-IPO if/when shares become available, create an account with Forge Markets to access our deep marketplace of private market securities.

When you create a free account, you'll be connected with a Forge Private Market Specialist to determine your eligibility, and from there you can potentially buy and sell private market shares in Figma and other startups.

Forge stands out for its transparency into what can otherwise be an opaque private market, and as a publicly traded company itself, Forge provides a regulated, proven way to invest in the private market.