I noticed an interesting news story about Notion that is worth commenting on. The productivity company has just closed a private funding round of about 270 million dollars, and the important detail here is Notion's valuation: 11 billion dollars. Quite robust for a workspace tool, isn’t it?

What caught my attention is who participated in this transaction. Besides the usual investors like Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC also took part. But here’s the interesting point: instead of a traditional dilution, the company allowed current and former employees to sell their shares directly. They even canceled the one-year waiting period for options, allowing almost everyone to participate. This is clearly a liquidity move for the employees.

And why is Notion so highly valued now? It has a lot to do with AI. Last year, more than half of the annual recurring revenue came from customers using AI features. This doubled compared to the previous year. Therefore, Notion’s valuation quite accurately reflects this growth driven by AI.

They also recently opened an office in Singapore, clearly betting heavily on the Asia-Pacific region. With this kind of investment and growth, it seems the company is preparing for serious expansion. It’s worth watching how this develops.