Notion, the collaboration software company, announced that it’s launching a new startup program to expand access to essential work tools that early companies can tailor to their own needs. As part of this, the company is offering a credit of at least $500 for all startups to try its product for free, regardless of size or funding status.

“Figma is a design platform that allows people to collaborate, and as our VP of people, my job is to make sure that ethos is reflected in how we work and learn from each other as a team”

At the same time, Notion kicked off partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) and Stripe, two startup ecosystem heavyweights that will extend Notion’s reach and a $1000 discount to hundreds of thousands of new users through their startup portals. Those who are interested can visit AWS’ Activate program and Stripe Atlas to learn more about this offer and other resources they provide.

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Notion decided to launch these new initiatives after observing unprecedented growth in the startup market over the last year, and some key trends:

• 4x growth in the number of startup companies using the product between September 2020 and September 2021 — following on record growth during the migration to remote work earlier in 2020.
• 90% of Forbes’ Cloud 100 companies have a Notion team workspace.
• Over 50% of startups in Y Combinator’s recent batch have a Notion workspace.
• 28% of startups on Crunchbase that have raised $1M+ are using Notion globally.

The customizable tools Notion provides — combining notes, shared docs, wikis, and project management — have become a standard in the industry. Often, they are blended into a full operating system that provides a single, quickly navigable home for daily work.

“Startups crave focus — but there’s a ton of noise to contend with. From building and sharing knowledge to growing the team to managing workflows, these companies need to remain connected at scale,” says Notion’s Head of Customer Experience Kate Taylor, whose team spearheaded the new program. “Ultimately we’re seeing that startup growth didn’t slow down during the pandemic — it accelerated, and these companies are investing in organization and their people. Whether it’s remaining consistent in processes, hiring and onboarding, documenting knowledge, or growing their sales motion, successful companies need to take all employees along for the ride.”

Today, Notion is used by tens of thousands of high-growth contenders, including Figma, Substack, Modern Health, Mixpanel, Buffer, and Headspace. As companies like these and others navigate new challenges, they require even more transparency and alignment. Notion is at the center of this shift, helping all types of teams collaborate more effectively.

“As Substack grows, it’s important that we keep everyone aligned with our core mission to enable a creative renaissance by helping writers flourish,” says Hamish McKenzie, Co-founder of Substack. “We use Notion to create a collaborative and living library around crucial topics like playbooks for writers, writer milestones and wins, our approach for shipping new products, and shared goals. Centralizing knowledge in that way lets us work autonomously but in coordination, with a constant focus on helping writers.”

This is the advantage Notion hopes to give more startups by engaging with the Stripe Atlas community, known for providing a robust launch pad of helpful tools and resources.

“Notion is a strong benefit for the Stripe Atlas community, helping businesses of all sizes stay organized and aligned through all of their key milestones, and bringing employees closer than ever before,” said Krithika Muthukumar, Startups Business Lead at Stripe. “We’re happy to partner with Notion and explore new ways we can support our community together.”

Notion is also joining the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network. Both this program and AWS Activate will help introduce Notion to entirely new startup networks — including in emerging markets, where the company is already seeing traction.

“Startups are crucial for moving our industry forward. We’re excited that Notion has joined our AWS Activate Console Exclusive Offers program, supporting hundreds of thousands of startups,” said Charles Chu, AWS WW Leader for Digital Native Businesses and ISVs. “Our customers rave about Notion as an essential tool for growing their businesses; and we look forward to collaborating more strategically with Notion to serve this community.”

Providing education and inspiration that startups can learn from to succeed is also a high priority for Notion. In addition to the day’s other announcements, the company also launched an official Startup Starter Pack, containing guides, tutorials, livestream opportunities, customer stories, and templates specifically tailored to startups’ top questions and needs. Those can be accessed here, and Notion will be rolling out more startup-oriented programming over the next three months.

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