Notion — Startup Profile

The connected workspace where better, faster work happens

HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States | Founded: 2013 | Employees: 1,000-1,100 | Stage: Late Stage Private (Series C+ / Pre-IPO) | Website: https://www.notion.com

About

Notion Labs, Inc. is the San Francisco-based company behind Notion, the connected workspace that combines documents, wikis, databases, and project management into a single block-based canvas. Founded in 2013 by Ivan Zhao (CEO), Simon Last, and Akshay Kothari (first hired in 2018 as COO), Notion was rebuilt in Kyoto after early struggles and launched to broad adoption in 2018. The platform serves 100M+ users globally across startups, enterprises, and consumers who use it as a flexible operating system for knowledge, tasks, and collaboration, with native apps for web, desktop, and mobile and offline-capable architecture.

Notion monetizes via freemium-to-enterprise subscriptions (Free, Plus, Business at $10/user/month billed annually, and Enterprise) and has expanded beyond core docs/databases with Notion AI, Notion Calendar (acquired Cron in 2022), Projects, Sites, Forms, and Notion Mail. The company raised $343M in primary capital — most notably a $275M Series C at $10B in 2021 led by Coatue and Sequoia — and completed a ~$270M tender offer at $11B in January 2026 led by existing investors. With $600M ARR in December 2025, cash-flow positivity, and backing from Sequoia, Index Ventures, Coatue, GIC, and First Round, Notion is positioned as a capital-efficient, product-led growth leader in the $50B+ productivity and collaboration market.

The Take

Notion has evolved from a flexible note-taking tool into the leading connected workspace, reaching $600M ARR and an $11B valuation by consolidating docs, wikis, databases, and projects into a single block-based platform amplified by Notion AI. With 100M+ users, cash-flow positivity, and a $275M Series C war chest from Coatue and Sequoia, Notion is monetizing through Business/Enterprise tiers and expanding via Calendar (Cron), Sites, Forms, and Mail — positioning for a durable pre-IPO run against Microsoft Loop, Confluence, Coda, and Airtable.

Key Metrics

Latest Valuation: $11B (Jan 2026 tender offer)
Total Funding (Primary): $343M
ARR: $600M (Dec 2025)
Users: 100M+ registered users
Profitability: Cash-flow positive (2025)
Headcount: 1,000-1,100
Founded: 2013
HQ: San Francisco, CA

Funding Rounds

Round: $2M (2013-09-01) — First Round Capital
Round: $1.35M (2015-07-15) — First Round Capital
Round: $3M (2017-08-10) — Elad Gil, Lerer Hippeau
Round: $10M (2019-07-30) — Sequoia Capital
Round: $8.5M (2019-07-30) — Sequoia Capital, First Round Capital
Round: $50M (2020-04-02) — Index Ventures
Round: $275M (2021-10-07) — Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital
Round: $52M (2024-01-10) — Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures
Round: $270M (2026-01-15) — Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures

Key People

Ivan Zhao
Simon Last
Akshay Kothari
Eunyoung Choi
Frederic della Faille

Key Competitors

Coda —
Confluence (Atlassian) —
Airtable —
Monday.com —
Asana —
Microsoft Loop / 365 —
ClickUp —

Timeline Highlights

2026-01-15: Tender offer at $11B and $600M ARR milestone
2022-06-15: Acquires Cron to build Notion Calendar
2021-10-07: Series C: $275M at $10B led by Coatue and Sequoia
2020-04-02: Series B: $50M at $2B led by Index Ventures
2018-09-01: Akshay Kothari joins as COO; Notion 1.0 relaunched after Kyoto rebuild
2013-09-01: Notion founded in San Francisco by Ivan Zhao and Simon Last

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