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Aravind Srinivas

Unicorn founder

Co-founder & CEO at Perplexity · Research Scientist at OpenAI · Research Intern at Google Deepmind

San Francisco, CA

FoundedPerplexity$21.2B

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About

Aravind Srinivas co-founded Perplexity AI in August 2022 and turned the citation-backed 'answer engine' into a $20 billion Google challenger — its September 2025 round closed at that mark, with Nvidia reported in August 2026 to be leading a new round above $30 billion. Raised in Chennai, he took a dual degree in electrical engineering at IIT Madras and a Berkeley PhD under Pieter Abbeel, with research stops at OpenAI, DeepMind, and Google before returning to OpenAI as a research scientist on work leading toward DALL-E 2. He founded Perplexity with Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski; at 31 the Hurun list called him India's youngest billionaire, and he once made an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid for Google's Chrome browser.

Beyond investing

Founded
Co-founded Perplexity AI in August 2022 with Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski, positioning it as a citation-backed answer engine.
Education
Berkeley PhD (2017–2021) under Pieter Abbeel; dissertation on representation learning for perception and control.
Awards
Named to the TIME100 Most Influential People in AI, 2024. Debuted on the Hurun India Rich List in October 2025 at ~$2.5B, reported as India's youngest billionaire at 31.
Family
Born in 1994 and raised in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in a family with a finance rather than technology background.
More
Made an unsolicited $34.5B bid to buy Google's Chrome browser in August 2025. Worked at all three of OpenAI, DeepMind, and Google before founding Perplexity. Cristiano Ronaldo took a stake in Perplexity in December 2025 as part of a global brand partnership.

Mentioned above: the Google mafia → · the OpenAI mafia →

From published sources — common ground for a warm intro.

Co-founder & CEO at Perplexity

Intro paths

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In turn, Aravind can intro founders to Perplexity's investors below.

Perplexity's investors · 61

1435 CapitalSkillman · since 2023359 CapitalNew York City · since 20237BC Venture CapitalSan Francisco · since 2023AccelPalo Alto · $1.6M – $70M checks · since 2023Advaita CapitalBoston · since 2023AIX VenturesSan Francisco · $1M – $5M checks · since 2023Arrington CapitalMiami · since 2023Arrington XRP CapitalSeattle · $100K – $5M checks · since 2023Aser VenturesLondon · since 2023AVVHo Chi Minh City · $250K – $2M checks · since 2023B Capital GroupSan Francisco · $10M – $50M checks · since 2023B4 Capital$10M – $50M checks · since 2023Balaji Srinivasan$10K – $500K checks · since 2023Bas1s VenturesBessemer Venture PartnersSan Francisco · $5M – $100M checks · since 2023Beyond CapitalSan Diego · since 2023Bezos Expeditionssince 2023BroadLight CapitalGreenwich · since 2023Buckhill CapitalSan Francisco · since 2023Builders + Backerssince 2023Cosmic Venture PartnersAustin · $100K – $5M checks · since 2023Databricks VenturesSan Francisco · since 2023Defy PartnersWoodside · $3M – $10M checks · since 2023Deviation CapitalNew York · since 2023E1 VenturesSan Francisco · since 2023Elad GilSan Francisco · $100K – $10M checks · since 2023EQUIAMSan Francisco · $1M – $10M checks · since 2023Factorial FundsSan Francisco · since 2023Firestreak Venturessince 2023Flex Capital PartnersSan Francisco · $500K – $2M checks · since 2023Foundation CapitalPalo Alto · $250K – $15M checks · since 2023Founders FutureParis · since 2023Gestio CapitalLondon · since 2023Glade Brook Capital PartnersGreenwich · since 2023Graphene VenturesPalo Alto · $500K – $2M checks · since 2023IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)San Francisco · $15M – $75M checks · since 2023Khosla VenturesMenlo Park · $5K – $50M checks · since 2023Kindred VenturesSan Francisco · $250K – $2M checks · since 2023Laude VenturesAtherton · since 2023M13New York · $4M – $7M checks · since 2023Maven VenturesPalo Alto · $1M checks · since 2023Millennium Technology Value PartnersBelgrade · since 2023MyAsiaVCSeattle · since 2023Nearingpoint Venture Partners Inc.Toronto · since 2023New Enterprise Associates (NEA)Menlo Park · $200K – $40M checks · since 2023Norwest Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $10M – $30M checks · since 2023Notable CapitalSilicon Valley · $5M – $50M checks · since 2023NuVenturesNew Jersey · since 2023ProgressionSan Francisco · $100K – $1M checks · since 2023Rosecliff VenturesNew York City · $500K checks · since 2023Samsung NextSan Jose · $100K – $5M checks · since 2023Sk Telecom Venture Capital, LlcSanta Clara · since 2023SoftBank Vision FundLondon · since 2023SquareOne CapitalMiami · since 2023Standard CapitalSan Francisco · since 2023Strategxy Ventures LLCBeverly Hills · $1M – $5M checks · since 2023Valor Capital GroupNew York · $100K – $5M checks · since 2023VeronorteMedellin · since 2023WAGMI Venturessince 2023WayraMadrid · $54K – $5.4M checks · since 2023WealthUnion$10K checks · since 2023

Co-founders at Perplexity

AD
Andrew D. KonwinskiExecutive Officer, Director
DY
Dzianis YaratsDirector
ASAravind Srinivas Lakshminarayanan
Aravind Srinivas LakshminarayananDirector, Executive Officer
DYDenis Yarats
Denis YaratsCo-founder & CTO

Research Scientist at OpenAI

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OpenAI's investors · 92

7BC Venture CapitalSan FranciscoA-Rod CorpMiamiA.Capital VenturesSan FranciscoA'Z AngelsLos GatosAdvent InternationalBoston · $1.1B checksAlpha FundsOdessaAlpha Wave GlobalMiamiAltimeter CapitalMenlo Park · $1M – $25M checks · since 2026Andreessen HorowitzMenlo Park · $500K – $50M checks · since 2026AntiSan Juan · $250K – $30M checksB Capital GroupSan Francisco · $10M – $50M checksBanca Investis — Family OfficeMilanBedrockLos Angeles · $5M – $30M checksBlackstonesince 2026boldstart venturesMiami · $1M – $3M checksBond Capital ManagementSan Francisco · $100K – $25M checksBright Pixel CapitalMaiaCats.vcVilnius · $200K – $500K checksCoatue ManagementNew York · $1M – $20M checks · since 2025Cosmic Venture PartnersAustin · $100K – $5M checksDragoneer Investment GroupSan Francisco · $100K – $5M checks · since 2025Eastlink Capital PartnersMenlo Park · $100K – $5M checksElad GilSan Francisco · $100K – $10M checksEmerson Collective InvestingPalo Alto · $100K – $1M checksEverybody Ventures$100K checksExpedite VenturesBerlin · since 2024Felicis VenturesSan Francisco · $500K – $15M checksFirebolt Ventures Management Company, LlcPalo AltoFirestreak VenturesFounders FundSan Francisco · $500K – $5M checksFrontier VenturesCupertino · $100K – $5M checksGaldana VenturesBarcelonaGestio CapitalLondonGlynn Capital ManagementMenlo ParkGreylock PartnersSan Francisco · $100K – $200M checksGroveStreetNewtonHOF CapitalNew York · $25K – $15M checksICONIQSan FranciscoIneffable VenturesStamfordInsight PartnersNew York · $120M – $350M checks · since 2026Kaleida CapitalSan DiegoKhosla VenturesMenlo Park · $5K – $50M checksLakeside CapitalTampa · $100K – $250K checks · since 2024M12 (Microsoft's Venture Fund)Seattle · $100K – $10M checks · since 2019Madrona Venture GroupSeattle · $2M – $10M checksMarketX VenturesMastrySan FranciscoMaverick VenturesSan Francisco · $3M – $10M checksMech VenturesLas VegasMGXAbu Dhabi · since 2025Nearingpoint Venture Partners Inc.TorontoNext Legacy PartnersPortola ValleyNVIDIASanta Clara · since 2024Optic Capital$100K – $1M checksOptimist VenturesNew YorkOssian CapitalMiamiPeter Thielsince 2015Redpoint VenturesWoodside · $100K – $10M checksRiverbend CapitalWashingtonRosecliff VenturesNew York City · $500K checksSam Altmansince 2015Sanctor CapitalNew YorkSequoia CapitalMenlo Park · $4.4M – $214M checks · since 2026SGH CapitalParisSoftBank GroupTokyo · since 2025SoftBank Vision FundLondonSoma CapitalSacramento · $100K – $300K checksSound VenturesSanta Monica · since 2026SparkLabs KoreaPalo AltoSquareOne CapitalMiamiStack CapitalTorontoStandard CapitalSan FranciscoStripesNew YorkSV AngelSan Francisco · $150K – $20M checksT. Rowe PriceBaltimore · since 2025TemasekSingapore · since 2026ThirdbaseNew YorkThrive CapitalNew York · $500K – $25M checks · since 2025Tiger Global ManagementNew York · $1M – $100M checks · since 2024Touring CapitalSan FranciscoTPGSan Francisco · since 2026Type One VenturesLos Angeles · $100K – $5M checksValkyrie Ventures Management, LlcPark CityVaranium Capital AdvisorsMumbaiVU Venture PartnersSan Francisco · $200K – $1M checksWAGMI VenturesWealthUnion$10K checksWinslow CapitalMinneapolis · since 2026Wisdom VenturesLos GatosXYZ Venture CapitalSan Francisco · $10K – $5M checksY CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checksZ-FellowsNew York · $10K checks

Co-founders at OpenAI

SASam Altman
Sam AltmanCo-founder & CEO
EMElon Musk
Elon MuskCo-founder & former Co-chair / board member
GBGreg Brockman
Greg BrockmanCo-founder & President
ISIlya Sutskever
Ilya SutskeverCo-founder & Chief Scientist
WZWojciech Zaremba
Wojciech ZarembaCo-founder
JSJohn Schulman
John SchulmanCo-founder (departed 2024)
AKAndrej Karpathy
Andrej KarpathyCo-founder
TBTrevor Blackwell
Trevor BlackwellCo-founder

Research Intern at Google Deepmind

Intro paths

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In turn, Aravind can intro founders to Google Deepmind's investors below.

Google Deepmind's investors · 5

Founders FundSan Francisco · $500K – $5M checksHorizons VenturesHong Kong · $1M – $110M checksLong Journey VenturesSan Francisco · $100K – $1M checksMetaplanetTallinn · $500K – $10M checksMoonfire VenturesLondon

Co-founders at Google Deepmind

SLShane Legg
Shane LeggCo-founder & Chief AGI Scientist
MSMustafa Suleyman
Mustafa SuleymanCo-founder
DHDemis Hassabis
Demis HassabisCEO

Experience

  1. PerplexityCofounder, President, CEOcurrent2022 — present
  2. Aravind SrinivasAngel Investorcurrent2023 — present
  3. OpenAIResearch Scientist2021 — 2022San Francisco Bay Area
  4. GoogleResearch Intern2020 — 2021Mountain View, California, United States
  5. DeepMindResearch Intern2019London Area, United Kingdom
  6. OpenAIResearch Intern2018San Francisco Bay Area

Podcasts & interviews

featuring Aravind Srinivas

How Perplexity works | Aravind Srinivas and Lex Fridman

Lex Clips

Recent breakthroughs in AI: A brief overview | Aravind Srinivas and Lex Fridman

Lex Clips

The secret to great software | Aravind Srinivas and Lex Fridman

Lex Clips

Aravind Srinivas: Perplexity CEO on Future of AI, Search & the Internet | Lex Fridman Podcast #434

Lex Fridman

Joe Rogan Experience #2521 - Aravind Srinivas

PowerfulJRE

CNBC's full interview with Perplexity founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas

CNBC Squawk Box · cnbc.com

5 more appearances

Frequently asked questions

Who is Aravind Srinivas?
Aravind Srinivas co-founded Perplexity AI in August 2022 and turned the citation-backed 'answer engine' into a $20 billion Google challenger — its September 2025 round closed at that mark, with Nvidia reported in August 2026 to be leading a new round above $30 billion. Raised in Chennai, he took a dual degree in electrical engineering at IIT Madras and a Berkeley PhD under Pieter Abbeel, with research stops at OpenAI, DeepMind, and Google before returning to OpenAI as a research scientist on work leading toward DALL-E 2. He founded Perplexity with Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski; at 31 the Hurun list called him India's youngest billionaire, and he once made an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid for Google's Chrome browser.
Where does Aravind Srinivas work?
Aravind Srinivas is Co-founder & CEO of Perplexity and Research Scientist at OpenAI and Research Intern at Google Deepmind.
What companies did Aravind Srinivas found?
Aravind Srinivas founded Perplexity.
Where did Aravind Srinivas go to school?
Aravind Srinivas studied at University of California, Berkeley (Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Computer Science); Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Dual Degree (B.Tech and M.Tech), Electrical Engineering).
What awards has Aravind Srinivas received?
Named to the TIME100 Most Influential People in AI, 2024. Debuted on the Hurun India Rich List in October 2025 at ~$2.5B, reported as India's youngest billionaire at 31.
What podcasts and interviews feature Aravind Srinivas?
Tracked appearances include "How Perplexity works | Aravind Srinivas and Lex Fridman", "Recent breakthroughs in AI: A brief overview | Aravind Srinivas and Lex Fridman", "The secret to great software | Aravind Srinivas and Lex Fridman", and 8 more.

Founder mafias

Same school

Shared employers