Figma is expanding its presence in India by setting up a local office and hiring Indian talent as it seeks to deepen ties with one of its largest user communities and make a broader push to better win over developers alongside the designers who already rely on the platform.

Founded in 2012 by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace, Figma broke through by offering a browser-based interface at a time when most designers were still tied to desktop software. The approach was initially met with skepticism, but the platform eventually became a go-to collaboration tool for UX and product teams. Now, the company is looking to replicate that trajectory with developers — and sees India as a key market to accelerate that evolution.

India has one of the world’s largest developer communities — an advantage already recognized by tech giants such as Microsoft, which counts nearly 22 million Indian developers on GitHub. As much as 33% of Figma’s users globally are developers, and the company has been rolling out features aimed at bridging design and engineering workflows. However, Figma still faces a perception challenge: Many Indian developers continue to see Figma primarily as a design tool rather than a platform for end-to-end product creation.