Chennai-born tech entrepreneur Aravind Srinivas has taken the global tech world by storm. The co-founder and CEO of US-based Perplexity AI, he has been named India’s youngest billionaire at the age of 31, according to the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025. His estimated net worth stands at an astounding ₹21,190 crore, fueled by the meteoric rise of his AI-powered search platform, Perplexity.
The Rise of Perplexity AI
Founded in August 2022, Perplexity AI is a conversational, AI-powered search engine that provides real-time, accurate, and reliable information. Unlike traditional search engines that return a list of links, Perplexity uses generative AI models, like OpenAI’s GPT-3 and beyond, to deliver direct, contextual answers to user queries.
Its interface functions like a chat-based assistant, offering users a seamless and interactive search experience. In less than two years, the platform has amassed over 22 million active users globally, rapidly gaining popularity among researchers, students, professionals, and tech enthusiasts.
Perplexity has positioned itself as a serious challenger to tech giants like Google and Bing in the evolving AI search landscape. Its user base in India is the largest, prompting the company to look eastward for growth and development.Academic Brilliance and Tech Foundation
Born on June 7, 1994, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Aravind showed early promise in science and mathematics. He went on to complete a dual degree (B.Tech + M.Tech) in Computer Science from IIT Madras, where he also taught reinforcement learning and related AI subjects as a teaching assistant.
He then pursued a PhD in Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where his research focused on cutting-edge topics like:
Computer Vision
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Video and Image Generation
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Contrastive Learning
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Transformer Models
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Unsupervised and Deep Learning
His academic journey included teaching advanced courses and publishing research that contributed to the growing field of generative AI.
Big Tech Experience: OpenAI, Google, DeepMind
Before becoming a founder, Srinivas gained hands-on experience at the world’s leading AI labs. He worked with:
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OpenAI – Contributed to the development of DALL·E 2, a powerful text-to-image generation model.
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DeepMind (London) – Focused on contrastive learning and foundational AI research.
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Google – Worked on cutting-edge computer vision architectures like HaloNet and ResNet-RS, aimed at optimizing visual recognition tasks.
This robust foundation in both academic research and industry application enabled him to bridge the gap between theory and scalable product development.
Angel Investments and Ecosystem Support
Srinivas is not just a founder but also an active angel investor. Since 2023, he has backed several promising AI startups, including:
ElevenLabs – Specializes in AI voice synthesis and text-to-speech technology.
Suno – Focused on text-to-music generation, enabling users to create music using natural language prompts.
His investment strategy reflects a deep belief in the future of generative AI, particularly in creative and assistive applications.
India-Centric Growth Strategy
As Perplexity’s largest user base is now in India, Aravind is shifting his focus toward expanding operations in the country. Key elements of his India strategy include:
Setting up a dedicated engineering hub in Bengaluru or Hyderabad.
Launching the Perplexity Fund – a venture initiative aimed at investing in education, healthcare, travel, and e-commerce sectors.
Exploring partnerships with Indian enterprises in digital learning, retail, and public services.
His move also aligns with India’s growing digital economy and the government’s push for AI adoption across sectors.
Joining a New Wave of Young Billionaires
Aravind joins an elite group of Indian tech founders under 35 who have achieved billionaire status, such as:
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Kaivalya Vohra (22) – Co-founder of Zepto
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Aadit Palicha (23) – Co-founder of Zepto