Notion Labs

Ivan Zhao, Notion's co-founder and CEO, leads the investment strategy for Notion Capital. The firm has built a dedicated ventures team operating from San Francisco and London. Investment decisions draw on input from the product and engineering leadership, given the fund's focus on companies that extend the Notion platform.

The fund sources primarily through the Notion ecosystem — developers building on Notion's API, companies in the Notion template marketplace, and startups that come through the user community. Notion's product adoption among startups gives it visibility into early-stage companies before they appear on traditional VC radars. The fund also works through the standard venture networks of its team and institutional co-investors.

Notion Capital operates as a dedicated venture arm within Notion Labs, not as a separate legal entity. It has its own team and decision-making process but remains integrated with the parent company. Ivan Zhao serves as the final decision-maker for both the core product business and the fund, ensuring alignment between platform strategy and investment thesis.

Notion Capital targets early-stage AI companies, typically at seed or Series A, with a focus on AI agents, productivity tools, developer infrastructure, and vertical SaaS applications. Geographically, the fund invests in North America and Europe, reflecting Notion's two main office locations in San Francisco and London. The unifying requirement is meaningful integration with the Notion platform.

Notion Capital can lead or co-invest depending on the opportunity. The fund has the flexibility to set terms in certain deals, particularly where Notion's platform provides outsized strategic value to the portfolio company. In larger rounds, the fund often participates alongside top-tier institutional venture firms from Notion's own investor network, including Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.

Notion raised over $275 million from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Coatue Management, and others, reaching a $10 billion valuation in 2021. Ivan Zhao and the founding team have direct experience receiving venture capital and understand the founder perspective. This informs the fund's operator-friendly approach, which emphasizes product distribution over aggressive governance terms.

Ivan Zhao and the Notion Labs founders have communicated an intent to maintain the company as a durable, independent institution. The firm has not publicly established a separate philanthropic foundation or family office structure. The venture arm operates alongside the core business as part of a strategy to build an enduring ecosystem around Notion, rather than as a diversification of founder wealth.