Founder Profile
Ivan Zhao
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Ivan Zhao?
Ivan Zhao is a founder of Notion Labs, Inc., which was founded in 2013 with Simon Last.
- Company founded
- Notion Labs, Inc.
- Founded
- 2013
- Co-founders
- Simon Last
Background
Ivan Zhao was born in China and moved to Canada as a child, graduating from the University of British Columbia (UBC) where he studied cognitive science and visual arts. Fascinated by the intersection of philosophy, human cognition, and software tools, Zhao developed a deep appreciation for the history of computing interfaces.
Founding Story
Ivan Zhao is co-founder and CEO of Notion Labs. Inspired by computing pioneers such as Douglas Engelbart and Alan Kay, he started Notion in 2013 to let people without programming skills build their own tools. After the first product stalled in 2015 he and Simon Last moved to Kyoto to rebuild it. As CEO he has kept Notion capital-efficient, raising no primary funding since 2021, while steering it to more than $500 million in annualized revenue by 2025 and an $11 billion valuation, and pushing the company toward AI agents. Ivan Zhao was born in 1986.
Sources
This profile does not yet cite a source specific to Ivan Zhao. The sources below document the company company rather than the person, so check them against the claims above.
- CNBC: Notion launches AI agent as it crosses $500 million in annual revenue (Sept 2025) (Notion Labs, Inc.)
- CNBC Disruptor 50 2026: Notion (No. 10) (Notion Labs, Inc.)