In a significant move to deepen its footprint in one of its largest and fastest-growing markets, collaborative design platform Figma has announced it will offer local data hosting in India and introduce a new suite of advanced security and compliance tools for enterprise clients. This strategic initiative, which includes the ability for customers to store their file data within India's geographical boundaries, is designed to meet the increasing demands for data sovereignty and regulatory compliance, particularly from companies in highly regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and public services. The announcement underscores India's importance to the design software giant, which recently identified the country as its second-largest active user base globally.

The new data residency option, slated to begin in the first quarter of 2026, will allow enterprise customers to store file data from Figma's entire suite of products—including FigJam, Make, Sites, Buzz, and Slides—on servers located within India.[1][2] This move directly addresses the growing trend of data localization, a key aspect of India's evolving digital policy landscape that requires companies to store certain types of data within the country.[3] By offering local data hosting, Figma aims to remove barriers for organizations that have stringent data security and compliance requirements, thereby expanding its potential customer base.[4][1] Freecharge by Axis Bank and IDFC First Bank are named among the first financial institutions that will participate in the trial phase of this local hosting initiative.[1][2] India will join Figma's other data residency regions, which include Australia, Europe, and the United States, with the service hosted on AWS data centers in the ap-south-1 and ap-south-2 regions.[1][5]

Figma's investment in the Indian market has been substantial and strategic. The company recently opened a new office in Bengaluru to better serve its expanding clientele, which includes prominent Indian companies like Airtel, Flipkart, Swiggy, TCS, and Zomato.[1][6][7][2] The user activity in the region is staggering, with Figma reporting that users in India created over 35 million files in the past year alone.[1][2] This vibrant user base provides critical feedback that helps shape the platform's development. Scott Pugh, Figma's Vice President of Sales and General Manager for the Asia Pacific region, highlighted the market's significance, stating, "India is home to our second-largest active user base globally, and we're listening to the needs of the market. Local data storage and enhanced governance will open up Figma to even more companies in India."[1][2]

Concurrent with the data residency announcement, Figma has also launched Governance+, a new add-on for its Enterprise plan.[8] This suite of tools is specifically designed to provide large organizations with more granular control over their data, enhance security, and simplify compliance processes. Key features of Governance+ include centralized controls to ensure all employee activity occurs within approved company networks, thereby preventing data from being moved to personal or unauthorized accounts.[8] It introduces IP allowlisting and Network Access Restrictions (NAR) to limit access to corporate accounts to approved networks.[4][8] The package also bolsters account security by enforcing two-factor authentication (2FA) for all users, including guests, and allows for extended idle session timeouts.[4][8] For data management and compliance, Governance+ includes a Discovery Pipeline, which logs text edits in files to help companies meet electronic communication retention policies and support legal discovery requirements.[4][8]

The introduction of these enterprise-grade governance tools and local data hosting is a direct response to the complex security and compliance landscape that large organizations navigate. As companies increasingly integrate collaborative design tools into their core workflows, the need for robust security measures becomes paramount. For businesses in the AI industry and other tech sectors, where intellectual property and sensitive user data are central assets, the ability to control data location and access is not just a preference but often a legal and operational necessity. Figma's new offerings are positioned to meet these critical needs, enabling enterprises to scale their use of the platform while adhering to their internal security policies and external regulatory obligations. This strategic enhancement of its enterprise capabilities, coupled with its deep investment in the Indian market, signals Figma's ambition to become an indispensable tool for organizations of all sizes, from startups to the largest global corporations.