The purchase of Figma, whose tools are used by designers and developers, is Adobe’s largest-ever acquisition and extends its reach into new areas.
The rising popularity of social networks helped fuel interest in an earlier wave of collaboration technology companies, including Jive Software and workplace chat company Yammer, later acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2012 for $1.2 billion.
Startups that employ concepts of collaboration, including digital work-space company Notion, document company Coda and app platform Airtable, took off among software, design and product teams.
Adobe is best-known by consumers for software programs—including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Acrobat—used for graphic design, video editing and more.
The fact that Adobe was willing to pay so much for Figma reflects that belief that its software was fundamentally different, according to Mr. Saper.