Figma

Figma

Several people sent this my way yesterday so I thought I would make sure everyone saw it: Figma is a new browser-based interface design tool that integrates collaborative features—simultaneous inspection and collaboration with co-workers, Slack integration, feedback, etc.—directly into the workspace. It looks very impressive (and their branding design is sharp) though I have yet to use it so I still feel the tug of my natural bias against designing in a browser.

What’s more notable, perhaps, is that the company behind Figma has already raised US$18 million in venture capital from Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, OATV and more. This sets them apart from many of the design tools that we’ve seen over the past few years, which have largely been developed without funding—with a few exceptions, notably InVision. In fact, the common denominator between the Figma and InVision may be both products’ emphasis on collaboration, and this is likely what makes these attractive investments to the venture community.

In this introductory post on Medium, Figma CEO Dylan Field writes:

Ever since Writely (now called Google Docs) launched ten years ago, I’ve believed that all software should be online, real-time and collaborative. Creative tools haven’t made the leap because the browser has not been powerful enough. Now, with WebGL, everything has changed.

Sign up for access at figma.com.

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