A 22-year-old developer in Mumbai, Zaid Mukaddam, has developed Scira AI (formerly “MiniPerplx”), an open-source AI search engine that now serves 60,000 monthly users and processes over 1 million searches per month, all without raising external funding. Scira AI represents a standout in homegrown generative AI innovation.
🧠 From Side Project to AI Sensation
- Started in August 2024 as a personal experiment, originally dubbed “MiniPerplx.”
- By early 2025, the project had gained 200 GitHub stars; today it’s earned 8,400+ stars.
- Runs entirely without investor backing, relying on community demand and clever, cost-effective scaling strategies.
📈 Growth & Scale Challenges
- Faced a sudden traffic spike from 500 to 16,000 users overnight in December.
- Used Groq’s support to help manage skyrocketing API costs while maintaining reliability. analyticsindiamag
- Now runs over 1 million searches monthly, a significant milestone for a self-funded, single-person project.
💡 Why Scira AI Matters
- Bootstrapped Success: Thriving without investors challenges the typical dependency on funding in AI startup culture.
- Local Innovation: Demonstrates India’s deep AI talent, particularly in Mumbai’s tech ecosystem.
- Open-Source Power: High GitHub usage shows the appeal of community-driven tools and independent development.
- Alternate AI Models: Provides a compelling indigenous alternative to tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT.
🔭 What Lies Ahead
- Monetization & sustainability: Long-term model yet to emerge—possibly via freemium features or paid API access.
- Feature Expansion: Plans may include knowledge graphs, AI-powered summaries, or browser integrations.
- Community building: With 60K+ monthly users, Scira could tap deeper with forums, open-source contributions, or third-party plugins.
✅ Summary
Scira AI’s rise to 60,000 monthly users and 1 million searches—without external funding—highlights the power of solo founders in AI. Zaid Mukaddam’s journey showcases community-first innovation and scalable design, marking a promising stride in India’s grassroots AI revolution.
