How a 29-year-old from Chennai became India's youngest billionaire with AI

From IIT Madras to Silicon Valley, his startup's meteoric rise redefines tech wealth. Now, he's taking on Google with a smarter search engine.

, and Administrator

2026 March 25 . 1:03 AM

1 min read

The image shows a man in a suit holding a microphone, standing in front of a screen. He has a... — The image shows a man in a suit holding a microphone, standing in front of a screen. He has a serious expression on his face, suggesting he is an entrepreneur.

How a 29-year-old from Chennai became India's youngest billionaire with AI

Aravind Srinivas, a 29-year-old from Chennai, has become India's youngest billionaire. His company, Perplexity AI, has grown rapidly since its launch in 2022. By October 2025, his net worth reached ₹211 billion ($2.5 billion), marking a rare rise in India's tech-driven wealth creation. Srinivas grew up in a family with a background in finance, not technology. He studied electrical engineering at IIT Madras, completing a dual degree. Later, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley, for advanced computer science research.

Before founding Perplexity AI, he worked at leading AI labs like Google Brain, DeepMind, and OpenAI. In 2022, he teamed up with Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski to launch the startup. Perplexity AI quickly gained traction, offering conversational, citation-backed search results. The company's valuation soared from $25.6 million in its seed round to $14 billion by early 2025. Key funding rounds included a $520 million Series B in January 2024, a $1 billion Series C in April 2024, and a $3 billion extension in May 2024. SoftBank's NVision later invested, pushing the valuation to $9 billion before it reached $14 billion. By 2025, the platform attracted millions of users and strong enterprise adoption. Its approach directly challenged Google's dominance in search, positioning Srinivas as a rival to Sundar Pichai in reshaping online knowledge access.

Srinivas' inclusion on the M3M Hurun India Rich List highlights a shift toward AI-driven wealth. Perplexity AI's rapid growth reflects changing trends in how people search for information. The company's success has cemented its place as a major competitor in the tech industry.