Perplexity

Quick read

Perplexity AI, an AI-powered answer engine, was founded in August 2022 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It has grown from $100M to $500M in revenue while keeping headcount flat, and is now pushing beyond search into agentic AI with its 'Computer' product line. The company raised $1.7B+ in total funding at a $22.6B valuation and runs on a subscription-first model targeting high-value professional users.

Key facts

Founded

August 2022

Founders

Aravind Srinivas, Andy Konwinski, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, Gustav Lindqvist

Employees

250

Sectors

ai, saas, enterprise

Website

perplexity.ai

Mission

Build an AI-native answer engine that replaces traditional keyword search with real-time, cited, conversational responses — monetised through high-ARPU subscriptions targeting professionals rather than ad-based volume.

Recent activity

• Jun 2026press
  CEO Aravind Srinivas confirmed Perplexity is targeting a 2028 IPO regardless of how Anthropic or OpenAI's listings perform. Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko stated the fixed 2028 date has helped the company build a 'healthy, high-growth business.' reuters.com
• Jun 2026product
  Perplexity expanded its Computer product into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, and launched a new Mac app. Max subscribers gained access to Claude Opus 4.8 through the platform. blog.mean.ceo
• Jun 2026press
  Srinivas discussed a new Microsoft partnership and hybrid AI at CNBC, arguing that on-device, model-agnostic computing will bring data-center-level capability to personal hardware. cnbc.com
• Apr 2026press
  Annual recurring revenue hit more than $450 million in March 2026, driven by a shift to AI agents and usage-based pricing, per Financial Times reporting. getpanto.ai
• Jan 2026investment
  Perplexity signed a $750 million deal with Microsoft to run on Azure cloud infrastructure. siliconrepublic.com
• Nov 2025investment
  Perplexity and Snap announced a $400 million deal to integrate Perplexity's AI into Snapchat's search features. siliconrepublic.com
• Nov 2025press
  Amazon filed suit against Perplexity over purchases made via its Comet agentic shopping feature, according to Silicon Republic. siliconrepublic.com
• Dec 2025press
  Cristiano Ronaldo entered a brand partnership with Perplexity, including a dedicated 'CR7 hub' on the platform where fans can query his career stats and history. Perplexity framed the deal as a push into mainstream consumer markets across Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. aibusinessreview.org
• Jul 2026product
  Perplexity Computer gained memory of past work, faster response times, mid-task model switching, website publishing, and private company research capabilities. perplexity.ai
• Jun 2026product
  Perplexity Computer expanded into Microsoft 365 — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams — letting enterprise users run agentic tasks inside their existing documents and email. fatjoe.com
• Jun 2026press
  CEO Aravind Srinivas told CNBC that annualized revenue has tripled since the start of 2026, attributing gains to model advances from Anthropic. He also argued that 'token value per watt per user' will determine the long-term winners in AI. cnbc.com
• Jun 2026product
  Deep Research came to Perplexity Computer, adding faster command access, forking, inline actions, analytics APIs, and custom credit limits. perplexity.ai

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

• Aravind Srinivas · Co-founder & CEO
  Brief →LinkedIn
• Denis Yarats · Co-founder & CTO
• Andy Konwinski · Co-founder
• Johnny Ho · Co-founder
• Gustav Lindqvist · Co-founder
• Dmitry Shevelenko · Employee
• Nathan Barksdale · Employee

Sources

• Perplexity AI — Wikipedia
• Perplexity 2026 Company Profile — Tracxn
• Perplexity 2026 Company Profile — PitchBook
• Aravind Srinivas — LinkedIn
• Andy Konwinski pledges $100M for AI research institute — TechCrunch
• https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/09/perplexity-ceo-we-are-targeting-2028-ipo.html
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai
• https://www.forbesindia.com/article/news/deep-dive/how-perplexity-is-remaking-itself-into-a-smart-digital-co-worker/2993628/1
• https://nextomoro.com/perplexity/
• https://www.perplexity.ai/changelog
• https://fatjoe.com/blog/perplexity-ai-stats/
• https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/03/perplexity-ceo-ai-valuations-computer-agentic.html
• https://venturebeat.com/technology/perplexity-ai-unveils-hybrid-local-cloud-inference-system-at-computex-2026
• https://www.perplexity.ai/changelog/what-we-shipped---march-13-2026
• https://www.reuters.com/business/perplexity-planning-ipo-2028-regardless-what-happens-anthropic-or-openai-ceo-2026-06-09/
• https://blog.mean.ceo/perplexity-news-june-2026/
• https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/03/the-data-center-is-coming-to-your-laptop-says-perplexity-ceo.html
• https://www.getpanto.ai/blog/perplexity-ai-statistics
• https://www.siliconrepublic.com/topics/perplexity/
• https://www.aibusinessreview.org/2025/12/11/cristiano-ronaldo-perplexity-partnership/

Other companies in United States

• OpenAI · AI lab, San Francisco·
• Anthropic · AI safety lab, San Francisco·
• Stripe · Payments infrastructure, San Francisco·
• Microsoft · Big tech, Redmond·
• NVIDIA · AI hardware, Santa Clara·
• Databricks · Data + AI platform, San Francisco

Frequently asked