Perplexity launches $50M seed and pre-seed VC fund

Perplexity, the developer of an AI-powered search engine, is raising a $50 million seed and pre-seed investment fund, CNBC reported. Although the majority of the capital is coming from limited partners, Perplexity is using some of the capital it raised for the company’s growth to anchor the fund. Perplexity reportedly raised $500 million at a $9 billion valuation in December.

Perplexity’s fund is managed by general partners Kelly Graziadei and Joanna Lee Shevelenko, who in 2018 co-founded an early-stage venture firm, F7 Ventures, according to PitchBook data. F7 has invested in startups like women’s health company Midi. It’s not clear if Graziadei and Shevelenko will continue to run F7 or if they will focus all their energies on Perplexity’s venture fund.

OpenAI also manages an investment fund known as the OpenAI Startup Fund. However, unlike Perplexity, OpenAI claims it does not use its own capital for these investments.