Perplexity AI Raises $62.7M, Eyes $2B Valuation

Perplexity AI Raises $62.7M, Eyes $2B Valuation with New Funding

Unlike traditional search engines that rely on keyword input, Perplexity AI enhances user experience by employing a conversational AI chatbot.

Written By:
Kelvin Munene

Last updated: April 25, 2024 3:29 PM

Published April 24, 2024 2:11 AM

Last updated: April 25, 2024 3:29 PM

Published April 24, 2024 2:11 AM

Perplexity AI, a generative artificial intelligence search engine startup, has raised $62.7 million in a recent funding round, doubling its valuation to over $1 billion. This milestone follows its last investment round in January, demonstrating rapid growth and investor confidence.

Investment Details

Daniel Gross, the former AI head at Y Combinator, spearheaded the funding round, showcasing a solid endorsement from a leading figure in the tech industry. Additional backing came from new investors such as Stanley Druckenmiller, Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, and Dylan Field, CEO of Figma Inc.

Long-standing partners like Nvidia Corp., Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos also contributed, reaffirming their ongoing support. This strategic capital injection brings Perplexity’s total funding to $165 million.

Excited to announce we've raised 62.7M$ at 1.04B$ valuation, led by Daniel Gross, along with Stan Druckenmiller, NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos, Tobi Lutke, Garry Tan, Andrej Karpathy, Dylan Field, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, IVP, NEA, Jakob Uszkoreit, Naval Ravikant, Brad Gerstner, and Lip-Bu… pic.twitter.com/h0a986t4Md
— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) April 23, 2024

Moreover, reports suggest that Perplexity is on the verge of securing another substantial funding round, which could further boost its valuation to between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. These developments reflect the company’s position and potential for future expansion in the AI sector.

Revolutionizing Search with AI

Unlike traditional search engines that rely on keyword input, Perplexity AI enhances user experience by employing a conversational AI chatbot. This chatbot allows users to ask questions in natural language and receive intuitive, conversational responses.

Concurrent with its funding news, Perplexity announced the launch of Enterprise Pro, a new service tailored for businesses seeking higher levels of security and privacy. Priced at $40 a month, this service includes features designed for enhanced team management and data protection, such as deleting queries after seven days.

And for Enterprise: we've announced the launch of Perplexity Enterprise Pro, to bring the world's best AI answer engine into the hands of every knowledge worker in every organization: https://t.co/rTcUH4AgT7
— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) April 23, 2024

Notable clients like Zoom Video Communications and HP Inc. have already integrated this service into their operations, leveraging it for targeted search and research.

Further solidifying its growth trajectory, Perplexity has formed partnerships with two of the world’s largest telecom firms, Japan’s SoftBank Corp. and Germany’s Deutsche Telekom. These alliances are set to extend Perplexity’s reach, potentially impacting over 335 million additional users worldwide.