Notion: How a Unified Workspace Redefined Productivity

Notion began in the early 2010s, born from founders Ivan Zhao, Chris Prucha, Jessica Lam, Simon Last, and Toby Schachman’s frustration at how fragmented and inefficient productivity tools had become. Determined to cut through the complexity of managing multiple apps for notes, databases, wikis, and project management, they imagined a workspace experience that was unified, flexible, and genuinely useful. The company was founded in 2013, designed to be approachable to both individual users and teams tired of juggling dozens of separate productivity tools.

Betting Early on Integration

Among Notion’s seed investors was Terrence Rohan, who recognized the company’s potential early on. Rohan’s decision to back Notion provided crucial early capital and credibility to the founders as they built their unified productivity platform. His support helped validate the vision of combining notes, databases, and project management into a single flexible workspace, setting the foundation for Notion’s later success with larger institutional investors like Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.

Addressing Gaps in Digital Workspaces

From 2020 onward, Notion emphasized rapid iteration, testing features with users and adjusting based on feedback. The platform experienced explosive growth during the pandemic as remote work drove demand for collaborative digital workspaces.

Steps Toward Scale

• 2013: The company was founded in 2013 with a focus on unification, combining notes, databases, and wikis into a single flexible platform.

• 2019–2021: Notion has raised $343M across multiple funding rounds from top-tier investors.

• 2021: Their most recent funding was raised on October 8, 2021 and is valued at $10B.

• 2023: In February 2023, Notion released the “Notion AI” service that can be used on the workspace, and later added an AI feature allowing users to query an AI chatbot, and receive answers based on information stored in their workspace.

• 2024: In September 2024, the company announced it had reached 100 million users.

• 2025: In April 2025 they released Notion Mail, a Gmail-based email client with Notion AI integration, intended to assist users draft replies, schedule meetings, and search across messages.
  

Productivity’s Next Frontier

Notion is focused on deepening its AI capabilities — summarizing documents automatically, organizing workspace projects, and integrating seamlessly with external tools. Notion is used by individuals, teams, and organizations of all sizes across various industries to streamline their workflow, increase productivity, and improve collaboration. The company continues to expand beyond its core workspace platform with integrated email and enhanced AI features.

Investor Spotlight

Notion’s story isn’t just about the team that built it — it’s also about the people who saw its potential early on and decided to back it. Three key investors in particular helped shape Notion’s path by bringing not just capital, but conviction and perspective to the table.

Terrence Rohan Terrence Rohan was part of the Angel round of investors for Notion. He has invested in 75+ companies, co-created 3 early stage funds, and is an early-stage/seed investor in companies including Figma, Front, Notion, Patreon, Robinhood, Hugging Face and Vanta. Based in San Francisco, Terrence Rohan is a seed investor who has been ranked by Forbes as part of the Midas Brink list and Business Insider as a Top 100 seed investor.

Sequoia Capital A leading venture capital firm known for its investments in companies that have become tech giants. Sequoia Capital led Notion’s Series A funding round, demonstrating strong belief in the company’s vision for unified productivity tools.

Index Ventures Index Ventures was one of the key investors backing Notion’s growth. The firm has a strong track record in productivity and collaboration software, making them natural partners for Notion’s expansion.

TLDR

What problem was Notion originally built to solve?

Notion was created in 2013 by Ivan Zhao and his co-founders to address the fragmentation of productivity tools. Instead of juggling separate apps for notes, databases, and project management, they envisioned a single unified workspace. Early believers like seed investor Terrence Rohan helped validate that this problem was worth solving by backing the idea before it was mainstream.

Who supported Notion in its earliest funding stages?

One of the earliest backers was Terrence Rohan, who joined Notion’s Angel round. His investment provided early capital and credibility at a time when the unified workspace concept was still unproven. His conviction later helped attract major institutional investors like Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.

When did Notion start gaining mass adoption?

Notion’s growth surged from 2020 onward, particularly during the remote work boom. As usage expanded, investors like Terrence Rohan — who had supported Notion from its earliest days — saw their early bet validated as Notion raised $343M and reached a $10B valuation by 2021.