Nearly two weeks ago, software giant Adobe reached a deal to buy Figma for $20 billion. In the time since, an open-source alternative said it has raised $8 million, in what is the biggest series A round for a Spanish open-source company yet.
Penpot, launched last November, allows cross-platform collaboration, meaning designers and developers can work on projects simultaneously. Since its launch last November, the Madrid-based design tool has seen its user base grow consistently. The platform is reportedly used by 10,000 companies, with clients including Google, Microsoft, Tencent, ByteDance and Mozilla.
Of the $8 million raised, a sizeable chunk came from Decibel, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage investing. Athos Capital, a Spanish venture capital firm doubled down on its $2.6 million investment into Kaleidos, Penpot’s parent company. Other noteworthy investors include ex-Figma COO Eric Wittman, developer relations executive Grace Francisco and Pedro Castillo, founder and former CEO of security analytics company Devo.
“Penpot is seeing unprecedented growth because designers and developers hate working within the silos and rigidity of traditional enterprise software,” said Pablo Ruiz-Múzquiz, co-founder of Penpot and CEO of Kaleidos said on Tuesday.
Before Adobe’s acquisition of Figma, the latter was an appealing option to designers because of its independence. Penpot said its sign-ups jumped 5,600% in a single day after the deal was agreed.
Ruiz-Múzquiz said the funding boost will help the company invest in cloud infrastructure to drive further signup and usage growth.
“I am grateful to all of you for coming along for this journey with us. Now is our time – our hopes of finding an open-source design and prototyping platform that can unite developers and designers are finally becoming a reality. Penpot is happening – please join us!” he said in a statement.
