Notation Capital

Co-founders Nicholas Chirls and Alex Lines lead the firm's investment activity. Chirls focuses on product, growth, and capital raising, drawing on his experience as Head of Seed Investing at betaworks. Lines concentrates on hard tech, infrastructure, and product, leveraging a software engineering background in distributed systems. The firm presents itself as a flat partnership at the pre-seed check stage.

Notation's sourcing relies on its operating network in New York and its pre-seed-first positioning. The firm enters at "day 0:00" — before rounds are marketed — often as the initial institutional capital. This approach, combined with Chirls' betaworks network and Lines' developer ecosystem connections, creates a pipeline that competes less on term sheets and more on operational support during company formation.

Notation Capital is a venture capital firm, not a family office. Though its AUM and LP composition are undisclosed, the firm's public branding, fund terminology, and structure as an early-stage investor align with a traditional institutional venture manager.

Notation's public materials indicate only direct investing at the pre-seed and seed stages. The firm does not disclose participating in fund-of-funds commitments or purchasing secondary stakes. Its model emphasizes close, hands-on engagement with founding teams.

Notation targets pre-seed and seed-stage companies, with an explicit focus on pre-seed — the period before institutional venture rounds form. The firm's self-description as "the first dedicated pre-seed fund in NYC" reflects a strategy designed to engage during a company's earliest operational phase.

Notation does not publish sector exclusions. Given its portfolio's concentration in enterprise software, infrastructure, hard tech, and fintech, it is reasonable to infer that consumer internet, life sciences, and clean energy hardtech do not currently represent core allocations — though this reflects observed investment behavior rather than stated policy.

There is no public evidence that Notation maintains a separate philanthropic vehicle, nor that it is affiliated with a foundation. The firm's activities appear confined to venture capital investing.