According to The Information, Perplexity has raised $200 million in new funding, bringing its valuation to $20 billion. Just two months ago, in July, the company had raised $100 million at an $18 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg.
Founded three years ago, this fast-growing AI company has now attracted a total of $1.5 billion in investments, according to PitchBook. The lead investor for Perplexity’s latest funding round has not yet been disclosed. Bloomberg reported that the July funding was a continuation of a $500 million round led by Accel earlier this year, which valued the company at $14 billion.
A source close to the company indicated that Perplexity’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) is approaching $200 million. Last month, the company’s head of communications told Business Insider that ARR had already exceeded $150 million. Perplexity has so far declined to comment on these figures.
This new investment comes at a time when Perplexity is positioning itself as a competitor to Google’s dominance in search. In August, Perplexity reportedly offered $34.5 billion to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. The offer followed the U.S. Department of Justice accusing Google of anti-competitive behavior and demanding the sale of its browser business. However, earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that Google would not be required to break up its search business, allowing the company to retain Chrome.
