Brief - The Hustle

Notion notches a $10B valuation, with the help of TikTok

Written by Trung T. Phan | Oct 11, 2021 6:36:18 AM

TikTok is known for turning random dances or cranberry juice-drinking skateboarders into viral sensations.

While enterprise software seems less likely to pop, workplace startup Notion has become a favorite on the short video app with 80m+ video views of the hashtag #notion.

This rush of TikTok interest…

…. is part of Notion’s rapid COVID-era growth, which saw the platform 5x from 4m users last April to 20m today (Notion’s sales are not disclosed).

Investors clearly noticed the gains: Last week, the company raised $275m at a $10B valuation, according to Forbes’ Alex Konrad — an impressive climb from a 2019 valuation of $800m.

Notion has a cult following

In addition to TikTok, the company’s subreddit (r/Notion) has 151k members, much more than other productivity tools like Slack (~17k) or Zoom (~26k).

These power users create countless templates for others to copy including calendars, habit trackers, portfolio screens, life wikis, and more.

Further, Notion’s ease of use and collaborative tools are finding their way into the enterprise world, a major area of focus for the startup.

Playing in a crowded space

Founded in 2012, Notion contends with workspace software both old (e.g., Microsoft Office, Evernote, Google Docs) and new (e.g., Airtable, Coda, Roam Research).

To separate itself from the pack, Notion recently acquired its 1st company: Automate.io, an Indian startup that provides automated integrations with 200+ services including marketing (Mailchimp), messaging (Slack), and payments (PayPal).

The deal increases functionality for Notion users… which probably means we’re about to get a lot more TikTok videos.