The startup, which has been operational since 2022, has a long list of investors including IVP, NEA, Sequoia, Bessemer, Kindred, Nvidia, Databricks, Bezos Expeditions, and notable individuals like Jeff Bezos and Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun. Perplexity's unique market position is its focus on a specific product - search, rather than building multi-purpose LLMs. The company has processed 75 million queries this year and is currently on an annual recurring revenue of $20 million.
Key takeaways:
- AI search engine startup Perplexity is currently raising at least $250 million more at a valuation of between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.
- Perplexity's product is a generative AI-based search engine that provides results using a chatbot-style interface, and it's building its algorithms incorporating a variety of LLMs.
- The company has processed 75 million queries this year and is currently on ARR of $20 million.
- Perplexity's current investor list includes notable VCs such as Sequoia, Bessemer and Kindred; strategic backers like Nvidia, Databricks and Bezos Expeditions; and many recognizable individuals such as Jeff Bezos, Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, and others.