Today marks a momentous occasion in the tech industry, as Perplexity AI, an innovative AI-powered search engine, has successfully raised a staggering $73.6 million in a recent funding round, propelling the company’s valuation to an impressive $520 million. This financial boost was led by IVP, with notable contributions from NEA, Databricks Ventures, and several influential tech leaders, including former Twitter VP Elad Gil, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke, ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and Vercel founder Guillermo Rauch. Adding to the high profile endorsement, Jeff Bezos himself is also among the investors.
Founded by Aravind Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski in August 2022, Perplexity AI has been making waves in the tech industry since its inception. Drawing on their expertise in AI, distributed systems, search engines, and databases, the founders have re-imagined the conventional search engine model by introducing a conversational interface that allows users to ask questions in natural language and receive summarized answers with source citations. This innovative approach simplifies the search process, providing users with direct, authoritative answers to their queries.
The Pro plan, priced at $20 per month, allows subscribers to switch between various AI models, including Google’s Gemini, Mistra 7Bl, Anthropic’s Claude 2.1, and OpenAI’s GPT-4. This subscription also unlocks plenty of features such as image generation, unlimited use of Perplexity’s Copilot, and the ability to upload and analyze documents. With over 10 million active monthly users and over $100 million raised to date, the company is focused on expanding its team and enhancing product functionality.
Despite its rapid growth and impressive market position, Perplexity AI still faces the usual challenges that come with GenAI search tools, such as high operational costs, potential misuse, and issues of misinformation. The company is also dealing with legal challenges regarding copyright concerns, as GenAI models often use web-scraped data for training. Perplexity claims protection under the fair use doctrine, like many others in the field, but artists and authors increasingly contest this stance.
Nevertheless, Perplexity AI remains undeterred in their mission to revolutionize how people search and interact with information. IVP General Partner Cack Wilhelm expressed confidence in Perplexity’s vision and leadership, highlighting the company’s fundamental potential to transform the search industry. With its unique AI-powered platform and robust funding, Perplexity AI is on track to make a significant impact in the realm of online search and information retrieval.
