Perplexity AI, known for its AI-driven search engine, has obtained new funding that brings its valuation to $18bn. The company secured $100m in fresh capital as an extension of a previous round, Bloomberg reported citing a source familiar with the details.

The startup has seen rapid growth, raising capital five times during the past 18 months. The valuation of the company also climbed from around $500m at the start of 2024 to $14bn in May 2025.

Earlier in the year, Perplexity aimed to raise up to $1bn at an $18bn valuation, but instead proceeded with a smaller investment at a $14bn valuation. The new funding aligns the company with its initial valuation goal.

Perplexity has not provided any comments on the funding.

Established in 2022, Perplexity is challenging Google’s leadership in internet search, having launched a browser in addition to its AI-driven search engine.

Recently, the company introduced an AI web browser named Comet for its premium subscribers. This browser can execute tasks such as shopping, summarising social media content, and sending emails based on voice and text commands.

Despite speculation about Perplexity being a potential acquisition target for major tech companies such as Apple and Meta, the company plans to remain public.

In an April 2025 interview with the Financial Times, Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas mentioned that Perplexity was serving approximately 30 million users. It has also diversified its revenue streams from subscriptions to include advertising and e-commerce.

Perplexity has received backing from investors such as Nvidia, SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates and IVP, along with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Yann LeCun.