- AI search startup Perplexity has reportedly secured $200 million in new funding, valuing the company at approximately $20 billion, according to The Information. Reuters
- This funding round comes after the company was already valued at $18 billion in mid-2025, following a $100 million raise.
- The report says the round is led by unnamed investors; Perplexity has not publicly confirmed the deal yet.
Why It Matters
- Growing Investor Confidence in AI Search Tools
Perplexity has carved a niche combining large-language models (LLMs) with traditional web search to deliver more conversational and context-aware answers. Such capabilities are attracting serious investor interest. - Revenue Growth Validates Valuation
The startup’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) reportedly has crossed $150 million by mid-2025, up sharply from earlier figures. That financial momentum supports its increasing valuation. - Competitive Landscape Heating Up
Perplexity is up against giants like Google, Microsoft (OpenAI), and others pushing AI-augmented search and browser products. Their move to raise more capital likely aims to scale product development (e.g. its AI browser “Comet”), expand enterprise offerings, and intensify R&D.
Risks & Things to Watch
- Valuation still speculative: The $20B number is reported but not yet fully confirmed by public filings. There’s always risk in overvaluations in rapidly evolving markets.
- Monetization & Profitability: While ARR is growing, whether the business can sustain high growth while maintaining margins (especially with costs in compute, data, engineering, etc.) is a question.
- Regulatory & IP Risks: Perplexity has faced scrutiny over content usage (copyright, scraping) and will need to ensure legal and ethical compliance to avoid regulatory and reputational risks.
- Competition: Google is not standing still—their AI Overviews & search improvements, along with competition from OpenAI/Anthropic, will pressure Perplexity to continuously innovate.
What to Watch Next
- Whether Perplexity officially confirms the raise and announces investors publicly.
- How the new capital will be used: Is it going into scaling “Comet”, improving enterprise tools, expanding in new geographies, or acquiring talent/ IP?
- How the market (both users and competitors) reacts—whether Perplexity can maintain its edge in user trust, answer accuracy, and speed.
- Revenue vs spend: Will this round push the company closer to profitability, or will heavy reinvestment maintain losses in the short term?
