Notation Capital: Brooklyn's Day-Zero Partner for Technical Founders

Notation Capital is a Brooklyn-based pre-seed firm with a narrow, deliberate mandate: be the "first-check" investor and "the best possible partner to technical founding teams on day zero of a new project" (notation.vc). In a market where many seed funds have drifted upmarket, Notation has stayed small and early, backing technical founders often before there is a market or even a product.

The thesis is that technical founding teams are systematically undervalued at inception. Notation's partners — both technical operators themselves — believe they can evaluate engineering-led teams earlier and more accurately than generalist investors, and they structure the firm around that edge: small funds, high-touch partnerships, and a willingness to invest pre-product.

On stage and geography, Notation invests at pre-seed and seed, primarily in New York City and Brooklyn, with a stated intent to prospect beyond Silicon Valley in places like Toronto, Boston and Austin (The Bridge; dot.LA). The geographic focus is a feature: the firm has built deep density in the New York technical community rather than competing for Bay Area deal flow.

Fund sizes have grown in disciplined steps. Fund I was $8 million (2015), Fund II was about $27 million (2018 — one outlet reported $28 million), and Fund III was $45 million, described as current in a circa-2023 interview with Nick Chirls. Aggregate assets under management were not publicly disclosed. Note for founders: the firm's older domain, notationcapital.com, appears defunct — the current official site is notation.vc.

The portfolio reflects the technical-first mandate. Zipdrug was the firm's first public investment; subsequent names include Carmera, Bulletin, Sawyer, Bison Trails, QA Wolf, Runwise, Toolio and Circle. Bison Trails — blockchain infrastructure — and QA Wolf — QA-as-a-service — are representative: deeply technical products sold to engineering buyers, the exact profile Notation was built to evaluate.

Leadership is a two-partner firm: Alex Lines and Nicholas (Nick) Chirls, both general partners (notation.vc). Chirls also hosts "Origins," a podcast focused on limited partners and fund managers — a personal project that has made him one of the more visible thinkers on emerging-manager venture, though it is not a firm-run founder programme.

Notation runs no accelerator, fellowship or formal founder programme that could be verified. The firm's platform is the partnership itself: day-zero company-building help from investors who have sat in technical seats, plus the density of the Brooklyn and New York technical networks the partners have cultivated for a decade.

For founders, the fit is precise. Notation is built for technical teams — ideally with engineering founders — raising a first institutional cheque pre-product or pre-revenue. Non-technical founding teams, or companies already at seed-plus traction, will find the firm's mandate too narrow. Indian founders should note the New York centre of gravity; the firm prospects beyond the Valley but its network density is local, so a genuine connection to the NYC ecosystem matters.