Aravind Srinivas has rapidly emerged as one of the most influential figures in the AI world, steering Perplexity AI from a promising idea to a tech company valued at $18 billion by mid-2025. His journey is not just about algorithms and valuations — it’s about family, perseverance, and a vision rooted in purpose.
Born in Chennai on June 7, 1994, Aravind grew up with a dream gently planted by his mother. Every time they passed by the prestigious IIT Madras campus, she would remind him, “One day, you’ll study here.” Inspired by her unwavering belief, he pursued excellence from an early age, winning the National Talent Search Scholarship and earning accolades in the Indian National Mathematical Olympiad. True to her vision, he graduated from IIT Madras in 2017 with dual degrees in Electrical Engineering.
Though he couldn’t major in Computer Science due to a slight dip in GPA, Aravind didn’t let that hold him back. Instead, he taught himself programming, dove into online AI courses, competed in machine learning challenges, and found a mentor in Professor Balaraman Ravindran. A brief but impactful internship with AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio later paved the way for his PhD studies at UC Berkeley, where he specialized in machine learning.
It was during his time at Berkeley that a critical question took hold of him: Why do users still need to sift through pages of links when AI is capable of giving direct, reliable answers? This question gave birth to Perplexity — a conversational, AI-powered search engine designed to deliver context-rich, cited answers in real time.
In August 2022, Aravind teamed up with Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski to launch Perplexity AI in San Francisco. The startup set out to challenge legacy search models by prioritizing transparency, accuracy, and user experience. By April 2024, they had raised $165 million and achieved unicorn status. Just a year later, the company’s valuation jumped to $18 billion following a fresh $100 million funding round.
What fueled Perplexity’s rapid rise was not just cutting-edge technology but strategic partnerships. A landmark collaboration with Bharti Airtel in May 2025 brought Perplexity Pro — a premium suite of AI tools — to over 360 million Indian users through the Airtel Thanks app. This move catapulted the platform’s reach, with monthly search queries crossing 780 million and active users topping 30 million, growing 20% month-over-month.
Perplexity Pro now includes top-tier AI tools like GPT‑4.1, Anthropic’s Claude, image generation, and their flagship voice-based browser, Comet. With features like AI-powered web navigation, summarization, and even composing emails, Perplexity has transformed how users interact with the internet.
Despite acquisition offers from tech giants like Apple and Meta, Aravind has chosen to remain independent — determined to build a long-lasting company on his own terms. Plans for a public listing are likely on the horizon after 2028, and expansion into enterprise, education, and mobile sectors is already underway.
Through every milestone, Aravind’s journey remains deeply personal. His mother’s quiet dream not only shaped his path but also inspired a revolution in how the world finds and understands information. As Perplexity continues to scale, Aravind Srinivas stands as a testament to the power of self-belief, family roots, and a mission-driven life — proof that the smallest dreams can spark the biggest transformations.
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