Notion overview
Notion Labs makes Notion, a workspace app in which documents, wikis, task lists and databases are all built from the same movable blocks. Individuals use it for notes and personal planning, while companies run knowledge bases, project trackers and meeting notes in shared workspaces. Around the core app the company has added Notion Calendar, a standalone calendar, Notion Mail, an email client, and AI agents that can search and act across a company’s content and connected tools.
Ivan Zhao and Simon Last founded the company in San Francisco in 2013 and raised about $2 million from angel investors to build a tool that would let people without programming skills assemble their own software. That first version proved too hard for most people to understand, and by 2015 the company was close to running out of money. Zhao and Last let their small team go, moved to Kyoto, Japan, where living costs were lower, scrapped their code and rebuilt the app from scratch. Notion 1.0 launched in 2016, and Notion 2.0, which brought notes, tasks, wikis and databases together in one product, followed in March 2018.
Notion spread through startups and a large community of enthusiasts who shared templates online. Investors valued the company at $2 billion in 2020 and at $10 billion in October 2021, when it raised $275 million in a round led by Coatue and Sequoia Capital. It passed 100 million users in 2024 and has made a series of small acquisitions, including the workflow automation company Automate.io in 2021, the calendar startup Cron in 2022 and the privacy-focused productivity company Skiff in 2024.
Since 2023 Notion has reorganized its product around AI. Notion AI became broadly available in February 2023, and Notion 3.0 in September 2025 rebuilt it as an agent that can carry out multi-step work across many pages. CNBC reported that month that Notion’s annual revenue had passed $500 million. In January 2026 Notion announced that investors including GIC, Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures had bought $270 million of employee shares at an $11 billion valuation, and in May 2026 the company opened a developer platform that lets customers run their own code and outside AI agents inside Notion.
Software by Notion
2 products profiled, from Notion (2016) to Notion Calendar (2024).
Notion history and milestones
- 2013
Ivan Zhao and Simon Last found Notion Labs in San Francisco and raise about $2 million from angel investors.
- 2015
Nearly out of money, Zhao and Last move to Kyoto, Japan, to rebuild the product from scratch.
- 2016
Notion 1.0 is released.
- 2018
Notion 2.0 launches in March, and Akshay Kothari joins full time as chief operating officer.
- 2020
A funding round values Notion at $2 billion.
- 2021
Notion raises $275 million at a $10 billion valuation and acquires Automate.io.
- 2022
Notion acquires the calendar startup Cron.
- 2023
Notion AI becomes available to all users in February.
- 2024
Cron relaunches as Notion Calendar, Notion acquires Skiff, and the product passes 100 million users.
- 2025
Notion Mail launches in April, and Notion 3.0 introduces AI agents in September.
- 2026
Investors buy $270 million of employee shares at an $11 billion valuation, and Notion launches Custom Agents and a developer platform.
Who founded Notion?
Ivan Zhao
Co-founder and CEO
Ivan Zhao grew up in Urumqi, in China’s Xinjiang region, and moved to Vancouver, Canada, with his mother while in high school. He studied cognitive science and art at the University of British Columbia and began working on Notion while employed at the ebook startup Inkling in San Francisco, drawing inspiration from early computing pioneers who saw software as something anyone should be able to shape.
Zhao has been Notion’s chief executive since its founding. He led the company through its near collapse in 2015, when he and Simon Last moved to Kyoto to rebuild the product, a period in which his mother lent him money to keep the startup alive. He has since guided Notion’s expansion into calendar, email, AI agents and a developer platform.
Simon Last
Co-founder
Simon Last studied computer science at the University of Maryland and was recruited by Ivan Zhao to work on the project that became Notion. He co-founded the company in 2013 and led much of its engineering, and in 2015 he moved to Kyoto with Zhao to rewrite the application from the ground up after the original version failed to catch on.
Last has continued to focus on building the product and has been closely involved in Notion AI, the set of AI features and agents that the company began developing in 2022 and turned into the centerpiece of Notion 3.0 in 2025.
Akshay Kothari
Co-founder and COO; joined full time in 2018
Akshay Kothari grew up in Ahmedabad, India, studied electrical engineering at Purdue University and co-created the news reading app Pulse while a graduate student at Stanford University in 2010. LinkedIn acquired Pulse in 2013, and Kothari went on to hold product leadership roles at LinkedIn, including work for the company in India.
An early angel investor in Notion, Kothari joined the company full time in 2018 as chief operating officer and is recognized by Notion as a co-founder. He oversees business functions such as sales, marketing and finance, and he hosts First Block, Notion’s interview series with company founders.
How Notion makes money
Notion uses a freemium, product-led model. Individuals can use the Free plan at no cost, and teams upgrade to paid Plus, Business or Enterprise plans billed per member, which add unlimited file uploads, longer page history, private teamspaces, single sign-on and other security and administration features. Full access to Notion AI, including the Notion Agent, AI Meeting Notes and Enterprise Search, is included in the Business and Enterprise plans, while the Free and Plus plans get a limited trial.
Usage-based charges are a newer source of revenue. Custom Agents, launched in February 2026, and Notion Workers, the hosted code runtime in its developer platform, consume Notion credits that customers buy on top of their seat subscriptions. Notion also sells to large organizations through an enterprise sales team, and its Notion Calendar app is free on every plan.
Who owns and runs Notion?
Co-founder Ivan Zhao is Notion’s chief executive, and co-founder Akshay Kothari is chief operating officer; co-founder Simon Last works on the product and its AI features. Notion Labs is privately held. Its investors include Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and Coatue, and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC became a shareholder when it bought shares from current and former employees in a tender offer, announced in January 2026, that valued the company at $11 billion.
- Ivan ZhaoCo-founder and CEO
- Simon LastCo-founder
- Akshay KothariCo-founder and chief operating officer
Notion: frequently asked questions
Who founded Notion?
Notion was founded in San Francisco in 2013 by Ivan Zhao and Simon Last, who rebuilt the product in Kyoto, Japan, in 2015 after their first version failed. Akshay Kothari, an early investor who joined full time as chief operating officer in 2018, is also recognized by the company as a co-founder.
Who owns Notion?
Notion is owned by Notion Labs, Inc., a privately held company. Its shareholders include its co-founders, current and former employees, and investors such as Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Coatue and GIC, which bought shares from employees in a tender offer, announced in January 2026, that valued the company at $11 billion.
Who is the CEO of Notion?
Ivan Zhao is the CEO of Notion. He co-founded the company in 2013 and has led it through its early struggles, its rebuild in Kyoto and its growth to more than 100 million users. Co-founder Akshay Kothari serves as chief operating officer.
Where is Notion headquartered?
Notion is headquartered in San Francisco, California, where it was founded in 2013. The company also has offices in other cities, including Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Singapore, reflecting strong growth in its use across the Asia-Pacific region.
What software does Notion make?
Notion Labs makes Notion, a workspace for notes, documents, wikis, projects and databases with built-in AI agents. It also makes Notion Calendar, a free calendar app that grew out of its 2022 acquisition of Cron, and Notion Mail, an email client launched in 2025, plus a developer platform for building on Notion.
Is Notion a public company?
No. Notion Labs is privately held, and its shares do not trade on a stock exchange. In a tender offer announced in January 2026, investors including GIC, Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures bought about $270 million of shares from current and former employees in a tender offer that valued the company at $11 billion.
Sources
- About Notion notion.com
- GIC, Sequoia, Index purchase Notion shares in private tender offer, Notion notion.com
- 100 million people now use Notion, Notion notion.com
- Notion CEO Ivan Zhao: Augmenting Human Intellect, Sequoia Capital sequoiacap.com
- Notion rides AI boom to $500 million in annual revenue, CNBC cnbc.com
- Notion (productivity software), Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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