Perplexity Hits Unicorn Status, Launches Secure AI Enterprise Search

Perplexity's unique selling point in AI-driven search is its AI-native search experience which is built entirely from scratch. Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity's platform combines web indexes with a range of AI models to provide direct answers to user queries, complete with relevant citations. The experience is conversational, eliminating the need to click on multiple links or sift through ads and sponsored posts. This approach has led to a significant growth in usage, with the company serving 169 million queries per month.

The Enterprise Pro plan offered by Perplexity includes several features designed to address data and security concerns for enterprise users:

• SOC2 certification, ensuring a high standard of security and privacy.
• Enhanced privacy and security features such as secure single sign-on and user management.
• Alerts for new file uploads.
• 7-day query deletion to maintain data privacy.
• Assurance that data uploaded or queried is not used for training LLMs (Large Language Models) powering the platform.

The plan is priced at $40/month or $400/year per seat, catering to organizations that require secure AI-driven search capabilities in their workflows.

Perplexity is planning for global expansion by partnering with major companies in Japan and Germany. Specifically, they have engaged with Japan's SoftBank Corp. and Germany's Deutsche Telekom. Through these partnerships, Perplexity will market and sell its AI search product to consumers and businesses associated with these companies in their respective markets. This strategy aims to significantly extend Perplexity's reach, leveraging the combined user base of more than 335 million customers across mobile and broadband services.

Perplexity achieved unicorn status by securing a $63 million investment, which led to the doubling of its valuation to over a billion dollars. This investment round was led by Y Combinator’s former head of AI, Daniel Gross. The company's rapid growth to unicorn status is particularly notable given that it occurred in just over a year and in a market dominated by Google's search engine. Perplexity's success can be attributed to its unique AI-native search experience and aggressive growth, including a paid tier and plans for global expansion.