AI and E-Commerce Unite: Perplexity Joins Forces with Seattle Startup Firmly!
Perplexity has partnered with a Seattle startup to boost e-commerce capabilities in its AI search app.
Perplexity is a leading, popular AI search application, and recently, it announced a partnership with Seattle-based startup Firmly to enhance the e-commerce experience for its users. This collaboration will allow businesses to sell products directly within the Perplexity platform, creating a more convenient shopping experience.
AI and E-commerce
On its part, Firmly is a five-year-old startup founded by three former Samsung executives. The company focuses on enabling e-commerce transactions for businesses across various digital channels, including content, messaging apps, digital ads, and live streams. Firmly's philosophy is centered on enabling instant purchases at the moment of inspiration, capitalizing on consumers' immediate needs.
Firmly's CEO, Kumar Senthil, spent eight years at Microsoft, served as Director of Product Management at Groupon, and later led global e-commerce products at Samsung. He observed that the rise of social media platforms like TikTok has fueled the demand for a "one-click shopping" experience, where consumers can buy items immediately upon seeing them, without navigating complex purchasing processes.
Perplexity launched its shopping tools last November. Brands using Firmly's solution will receive the full revenue from each transaction. This new feature is expected to significantly improve the user shopping experience, simultaneously boosting sales for businesses.
Future Investments
Further reports indicate that Perplexity is planning a new funding round at a valuation of $18 billion, with its annual recurring revenue nearing $100 million. Perplexity also acquired another Seattle startup, Carbon, in December, which helps businesses connect external data sources with large language models, further expanding its technological capabilities.
Other investors at Firmly include prominent venture capital firms such as FJ Labs, BGV, Ark Invest, and Rapid Ventures, demonstrating market recognition and support for its innovative solution.
