๐Ÿ’ฐ Perplexity Launches $50M VC Fund โ€“ Because AI Money Never Sleeps ๐Ÿค–๐Ÿ’ธ

AI search engine company Perplexity is launching a $50M investment fund. Because why just raise money when you can also *give* money? ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ

Rafelia

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2025-02-26 05:30 +0530


๐Ÿ’ฐ Perplexity Launches $50M VC Fund โ€“ Because AI Money Never Sleeps ๐Ÿค–๐Ÿ’ธ

If raising $500 million at a $9 billion valuation wasnโ€™t enough, Perplexity is now giving away some of that cash! ๐Ÿค‘

Theyโ€™re launching a $50M venture fund to invest in seed and pre-seed startupsโ€”because AI search engines arenโ€™t just for searching, theyโ€™re also for funding. ๐Ÿ”๐Ÿ’ธ


๐Ÿง Whatโ€™s Happening?

โœ… Perplexity raised $500M in December ๐Ÿ“ˆ
โœ… Now launching a $50M seed & pre-seed VC fund ๐Ÿš€
โœ… Most of the money is from investors, but Perplexity is throwing in some of its own ๐Ÿ’ฐ
โœ… Fund is led by Kelly Graziadei & Joanna Lee Shevelenko (who also co-founded F7 Ventures)


๐Ÿ” Wait, Why is Perplexity Doing This?

๐Ÿ“ข Because raising money is fun, but giving it away is a flex. ๐Ÿ˜Ž

๐Ÿ’ผ AI companies love investing (just look at OpenAIโ€™s Startup Fund).
๐Ÿ“Š Good for business โ€“ Invest in the next big thing before someone else does.
๐Ÿš€ Smart move โ€“ Perplexity is betting on the AI future while still growing itself.


๐Ÿ”ฅ How Does This Compare to OpenAIโ€™s Fund?

๐Ÿ”ฅ Feature Perplexity VC Fund OpenAI Startup Fund
๐Ÿ’ฐ Uses own money? Yes โœ… No โŒ
๐Ÿš€ Focus AI & startups AI startups
๐Ÿ† Fund Managers Kelly & Joanna OpenAI execs
๐Ÿ”ฎ Goal Fund the future, get early access to cool tech Same, but without spending their own cash

So, basically, Perplexity is putting its own money on the line while OpenAI is investing with other people’s money. ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ


๐Ÿ† What This Means for Startups

๐Ÿš€ If youโ€™ve got an AI startup, Perplexity might just throw some cash your way.
๐Ÿ’ฐ Seed & pre-seed funding means early-stage startups get a chance.
๐Ÿค– AI is clearly the hottest investment space right now.


๐Ÿค” Final Thought

๐Ÿ’ก AI companies raising billions isnโ€™t surprising anymore. But when they start their own VC funds, itโ€™s a sign that AI isnโ€™t just growingโ€”itโ€™s taking over investment, too.

๐Ÿ“ข So, got a great startup idea? Maybe ask Perplexity instead of a traditional VC. ๐Ÿ˜†