‘Google Docs for Designers’ firm Figma has opened its EMEA headquarters in London. 

The Silicon Valley unicorn works with the likes of Deliveroo and Spotify and has built a team of 14 which is currently working remotely in the UK. 

Co-founded by CEO Dylan Field in 2013 ahead of a full launch three years later, Figma is a collaborative interface design tool which runs in your browser and allows designers to share, edit and comment on prototypes in real-time. 

“I’m excited to announce that Figma is opening a hub office in London, which will serve as our HQ for the EMEA region,” Field wrote in a blog post. 

“Earlier this year, we decided to increase our local presence by building a London team in order to better partner with our users in the region, including forward-thinking companies like Deliveroo in London, Zalando in Berlin, Spotify in Stockholm, and Booking.com in Amsterdam. 

“Today, we have a team of 14 working remotely in the London area, and they remind me daily how much opportunity there is for us in the region. 

“While we hoped to celebrate our new EMEA HQ in person, the world had other plans. We’re excited to officially open our doors as soon as it feels safe for Figmates to resume in-person work.” 

Field said he was “shocked” by the international nature of its user base in the start-up’s early stages. Today 81% of Figma’s weekly active users are outside the United States. 

The company hired a team of product specialists in Amsterdam in early 2019. 

“As I spent time internationally, I quickly learned that our time zone coverage was inadequate for users outside the US,” he added. 

The reality is that opening an office is so much more than a physical space. It’s also about sharing a time zone with more of our users, attracting diverse talent as Figma continues to grow, and understanding local nuances in order to support design communities across the world.