Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence startup, has successfully secured $500 million in its latest funding round, raising its valuation to $9 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. This financing, led by institutional venture partners, was completed in December 2024.
The company’s valuation has seen a meteoric rise, jumping from $1 billion in April 2024 to $3 billion by June 2024 after a strategic investment from SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund 2. The $9 billion valuation now includes the recent funding, underscoring Perplexity’s rapid expansion.
Founded in 2022, Perplexity AI provides real-time information through both free and paid versions of its search tool. The platform has grown to include additional features, such as searching internal files and offering finance-related insights like stock prices and company earnings data.
By March 2024, Perplexity had amassed over 15 million active users. The company also established revenue-sharing partnerships with major publishers like Time and Fortune after addressing earlier plagiarism concerns.
Supported by prominent investors, including Jeff Bezos and NVIDIA, Perplexity AI continues to enhance its technology. The recent acquisition of Carbon, a data connectivity startup, allows users to link apps like Notion and Google Docs directly to the platform.
In a statement, Perplexity outlined its vision: “Carbon will simplify the process for users to connect the data sources that matter to them, enabling Perplexity’s answer engine to integrate diverse information from internal databases, cloud storage, and document repositories. Rather than searching through multiple web pages, apps, or messages, Perplexity will conduct the research, delivering critical insights across sources as part of the answer.”
With fresh funding and strategic initiatives, Perplexity AI is well-positioned for continued growth in the competitive AI market.