$18B Perplexity AI Valuation Makes 31-Year-Old Srinivas India’s Youngest Billionaire
1. Youngest Billionaire in India
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Name: Aravind Srinivas
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Age: 31
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Net Worth: ₹21,190 crore (M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025)
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Nickname: “Chennai Boy”
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Significance: Symbolizes India’s shift from a service-led to a deep-tech economy
2. Educational Journey
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Graduation: 2017, dual degrees in Electrical Engineering
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Challenges: Transitioned to Computer Science
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Skills: Learned Python, excelled in Kaggle competitions
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PhD: Artificial Intelligence, UC Berkeley
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Mentorship: Interned with AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio
3. Career & Startup Journey
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Founding Perplexity AI: 2022
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Co-founders: Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, Andy Konwinski
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Objective: AI-powered search with verified citations
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Vision:
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Move away from traditional search engines
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Build transparent, verifiable AI search
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4. Key Growth Milestones
| Year/Month | Event | Financial/Users Impact |
|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Bharti Airtel partnership | 360M Indian users get free Perplexity Pro access |
| May 2025 | User growth | 30M active users globally |
| May 2025 | Query volume | 780M queries per month |
| July 2025 | Valuation | $18B (~₹1,44,000 crore) |
5. Market & Industry Impact
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Valuation: $18B by July 2025
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Global Positioning: Competing with top AI tech leaders
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Industry Signal: Marks India’s transition to a product-driven, innovation-focused tech hub
6. Personal Background
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Family Influence: Inspired by mother’s dream of attending IIT Madras
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Career Choices: Left Google to pursue independent vision
Disclaimer:
This article is for knowledge purposes only. The Profit India is not responsible for any investment decisions.
