Startups Try to Chip Away at Adobe’s Dominance

Kleiner Perkins and other venture capitalists are betting that the Photoshop maker’s chokehold over the design market could someday come to an end.

Adobe's Sales Exceed Estimates As Demand In Japan Bounces Back — Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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By Lizette Chapman

February 1, 2018 at 2:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The number of software design jobs is exploding, and that means more business for Adobe Systems Inc. The company behind Photoshop has seen its stock price soar 76 percent in the last year and revenue surge as it provided new tools to customers and landed the difficult transition to cloud software.

Despite Adobe’s decades-long grip on creative industries, venture capitalists are betting they can help startups outmaneuver the behemoth and grab slices of the multibillion-dollar market. The latest to secure venture capital is Figma Inc., which makes a sort of Google Docs for designing apps. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led a $25 million investment expected to be announced Thursday, the first deal from the newest general partner, Mamoon Hamid.