Unlock Editor’s Digest Lock for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf will select your favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
US product design software company Figma has submitted an initial public offering to test investors’ desire for technology lists as Donald Trump’s tariffs are a global financial market.
Figma said on Tuesday it secretly submitted a draft registration plan to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, paving the way for an IPO.
The volatility in the market, unleashed by the president’s rapidly changing tariff policies, has cooled the market for the new US list that many bankers expected to explode under the Republican administration after a three-year drought.
Trump’s sudden collection of trade weighs global stock markets, particularly US stocks, as investors are worried about knocking on the global economy.
Several major IPOs have been postponed after Trump launched his “liberation day” tariffs in early April. This includes Fintech Kralna’s $15 billion float and Medtech Company Medline’s $50 billion list.
Cloud computing group CoreWeave was released in late March after cutting the size and value of its IPO amid shaking investor demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company’s shares are only over 2%.
Figma said the number of shares in the potential offer and the price range for the potential offer has not been determined. It was valued at $12.5 billion in shares to employees and investors last year, thanks to participation from existing investors, including Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz. It raised approximately $333 million in seven funding rounds.
Secret submissions with US regulators allow businesses to personally advance plans to list their plans before publishing documents that approach a quest for the rise.
One person close to the listing process told the Financial Times that Figma felt confident in the strength of his business despite the current market turmoil.
Recommended
In late 2023, the San Francisco-based company was acquired by Adobe, which ultimately abandoned its proposed $2 billion acquisition, following scrutiny from the UK and EU watchdogs.
While Figma specializes in online software for designing apps and websites, Adobe creates a wide range of digital marketing and creative tools, such as Photoshop and Indesign.
Regulators were worried that Adobe would take away potential competitors, pushing companies to sell duplicate transactions, such as Adobe’s illustrator, Photoshop, or Figma’s core product, Figma Design.
