From IIT Madras to Silicon Valley: How Aravind Srinivas Built a ₹21,190 Cr AI Empire

October 3, 2025 Comments (0) 5 Mins Read

New Delhi, October 03, 2025 — In a remarkable achievement for Indian tech entrepreneurship, Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, has been crowned India’s youngest billionaire at just 31 years old. According to the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025, Aravind Srinivas’s net worth has surged to ₹21,190 crore, thanks to the meteoric rise of his AI-powered search platform.

Perplexity AI: Redefining Search

Founded in August 2022, Perplexity AI is not just another search engine. The platform uses advanced generative AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT series, to provide direct, contextual answers instead of conventional link-based search results.

Designed like a conversational assistant, Perplexity delivers real-time, accurate, and reliable responses, offering an interactive experience for researchers, students, professionals, and everyday users.

In less than two years, Perplexity has attracted 22 million active users worldwide, with India emerging as its largest market. Industry analysts view the platform as one of the most serious challengers yet to giants like Google and Microsoft’s Bing in the evolving AI-driven search landscape.

Academic Brilliance and Early Passion

Born on June 7, 1994, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Aravind Srinivas showed exceptional talent in science and mathematics from an early age. He pursued a dual degree (B.Tech + M.Tech) in Computer Science from IIT Madras, where he also served as a teaching assistant for advanced courses in artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning.

He later earned a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in:

Computer Vision

Video and Image Generation

Contrastive Learning

Transformer Models

Deep and Unsupervised Learning

During his academic journey, Aravind Srinivas published influential research papers and contributed to the academic community by teaching cutting-edge AI courses.

Big Tech Experience Before Founding Perplexity

Srinivas’s career trajectory includes stints at some of the world’s most prestigious AI labs and technology firms, experiences that shaped his ability to build scalable, real-world AI products:

OpenAI — Worked on DALL·E 2, the groundbreaking text-to-image model.

DeepMind (London) — Researched contrastive learning and foundational AI methods.

Google — Contributed to computer vision architectures like HaloNet and ResNet-RS.

This blend of academic rigor and industry exposure equipped Aravind Srinivas with a unique perspective on how to bridge research and product innovation.

Angel Investments in AI Startups

Beyond building Perplexity, Aravind Srinivas has actively contributed to the global AI ecosystem as an angel investor. Since 2023, he has backed startups like:

ElevenLabs — Specializing in AI-driven voice synthesis and text-to-speech tools.

Suno — Innovating in text-to-music generation, enabling users to compose music with natural language prompts.

His investments reflect his conviction that generative AI will transform creative and assistive applications in the near future.

India-Centric Growth Strategy

With India emerging as Perplexity’s largest user base, Aravind Srinivas has announced plans to deepen the company’s roots in the country. His India strategy includes:

Setting up a dedicated engineering hub in Bengaluru or Hyderabad.

Launching the Perplexity Fund, a venture initiative to invest in education, healthcare, e-commerce, and travel startups.

Forming strategic partnerships with Indian enterprises in digital learning, retail, and public services.

These steps align with India’s booming digital economy and the government’s emphasis on AI adoption across sectors.

Part of a New Generation of Billionaires

Srinivas now joins the ranks of India’s young billionaire founders, alongside Kaivalya Vohra (22) and Aadit Palicha (23) of Zepto. According to the Hurun India Rich List 2025, India is now home to 358 billionaires and nearly 1,700 individuals worth over ₹1,000 crore. On average, the country produces one new billionaire every week, with technology driving much of this wealth creation.

The rise of figures like Srinivas signals a generational shift where innovation in AI, digital commerce, and education technology are shaping India’s new economy.

From Chennai Classrooms to Silicon Valley Boardrooms

Aravind Srinivas’s journey exemplifies the possibilities created by education, global exposure, and ambition. From his beginnings in Chennai to becoming a tech leader in Silicon Valley, his trajectory mirrors India’s growing influence on the global technology stage.

At a time when AI is redefining work, learning, and search, Srinivas is not just participating in the revolution—he is helping to build it.

Conclusion

With Perplexity AI’s rapid growth, Aravind Srinivas has emerged as one of the most exciting names in global technology and India’s youngest billionaire. His story blends academic brilliance, Big Tech experience, and entrepreneurial grit.

As Perplexity expands its footprint in India and continues to challenge search incumbents worldwide, Srinivas’s journey offers inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs and signals the dawn of a new age in AI-driven innovation.

From launching a conversational search engine to reshaping how billions may access knowledge in the future, Srinivas’s success story proves that India’s tech talent can command a seat at the highest levels of global innovation.

References

Disclaimer: This article is based on information available from public sources. It has not been reported by EQMint journalists. EQMint has compiled and presented the content for informational purposes only and does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Readers are advised to verify details independently before relying on them.