Figshare is one of a number of portfolio businesses supported by Digital Science,[2] a subsidiary of Springer Nature.

[2] Hahnel first developed the platform as a personal custom solution for the organization and publication of diverse research products generated in support of his PhD in stem cell biology.

[4][8] The withholding of negative publications is a widely known phenomenon that leads to a significant bias, often referred to as the file drawer effect.

[11] By encouraging publishing of figures, charts, and data, rather than being limited to the traditional entire 'paper', knowledge can be shared more quickly and effectively.

Figshare features integration with ORCID,[13] Symplectic Elements,[14][15] can import items from GitHub,[16] and is a source tracked by Altmetric.com.