Perplexity Secures $200 Million in Funding at $20 Billion Valuation, Challenges Google’s Search Dominance
AI-focused search startup Perplexity, renowned for delivering conversational answers to user queries in competition with Google, has secured an additional $200 million in funding, bringing its valuation to a staggering $20 billion. This fresh injection of capital was reported by The Information, following close on the heels of the company’s July funding round that raised $100 million at a $18 billion valuation (Bloomberg).
Since its inception three years ago, Perplexity has managed to amass a total of $1.5 billion in funding as per PitchBook data, though details regarding the latest investment’s leadership remain undisclosed. The July financing was an extension of an earlier $500 million round, led by Accel and completed this year at a $14 billion valuation (Bloomberg).
According to sources privy to the company’s operations, Perplexity’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) is poised to surpass the $200 million mark. Last month, the company’s head of communications disclosed to Business Insider that the ARR exceeded $150 million.
As yet, Perplexity has not responded to a request for comment on this development.
The funding round takes place as Perplexity seeks to challenge Google’s search dominance. In August, Perplexity made an offer to acquire Google’s Chrome browser for $34.5 billion, following the Justice Department’s allegation that Google was acting anticompetitively and their proposal for Google to sell its web browser. However, a federal judge recently ruled that Google will not be required to split up its search business, thus allowing the search giant to retain Chrome.
