Google is great. But there’s something daunting about getting a gazillion results in .6 seconds.
Info-sharing startups like Notion, Coda, and Almanac are organizing that chaos with spaces where resources can be created, shared, and searched.
Originally, these apps were designed for professionals to share corporate knowledge, like how to structure HR protocols or marketing strategies. But lately, people have been using them in unexpected ways — uploading everything from trip itineraries to recipes.
They’ll rescue you from the 2nd page of Google
The apps allow people to not only create documents, but to access an archive of crowdsourced information.
Almanac’s directory has 3k entries, and Coda recently introduced a searchable doc gallery feature. While Notion is focused on team collaboration, it’s developing its own catalog of community content.
Info-sharing is on the rise at a critical time: Adam Nathan, CEO and co-founder of Almanac, told Protocol he hopes to amplify the work of diversity and inclusion experts when corporations desperately need their expertise.
Black Lives Matter activists used the apps to organize, creating donation databases and contact lists of Black HR leaders.
VCs are starting to take note
All this buzz translates into some cold hard cash. Notion was recently valued at$2B+ and raised $50m in startup funds. Back in 2017, Coda raised $60m, and Almanac nabbed $9m in seed money in May.
