Carbon Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors

Carbon was acquired by Perplexity in December 2024.

Carbon acquisition price

Undisclosed

Acquired by Perplexity · Dec 2024

Cumulative funding Carbon raised

$1M

across 1 funding round

Key investors in Carbon

  • Treble
  • MKT1 Capital

Carbon Overview

About Carbon

Carbon is a Seattle-based software company that built a retrieval engine connecting large language models to users' unstructured data, using retrieval-augmented generation. Its connectors pulled content from third-party applications such as Notion, Google Docs, Slack, Google Drive and SharePoint, and its developer SDKs handled file syncing, access controls and data search across documents, images, audio and video. Customers were developers and companies building AI products on their own data, and the company earned revenue from subscriptions. The company was founded in 2022 and was led by chief executive Derek Tu. It was acquired by Perplexity in December 2024 and its team joined Perplexity.


Founded

2022

HQ

United StatesSeattle, WA

Website

carbon.ai

Status

Acquired

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Subscription

Carbon Acquisition

Carbon was acquired by Perplexity for an undisclosed price on 18 December 2024.

Before the acquisition Carbon had raised $1M across 1 funding round.

Carbon, a Seattle-based startup founded in 2022, develops a retrieval engine that connects external data sources to large language models using retrieval augmented generation (RAG) technology. The platform streamlines access to unstructured data from applications like Notion, Google Docs, Slack, Google Drive, and SharePoint, enabling AI systems to pull insights from internal databases, cloud storage, and document repositories. Carbon had raised $1.3 million in seed funding in 2023 from investors including Treble, MKT1, and angels, and employed four people led by CEO Derek Tu. Perplexity AI, a San Francisco-based AI-powered answer engine valued at $9 billion following a $500 million funding round led by Institutional Venture Partners in December 2024, acquired Carbon for an undisclosed amount. This marks Perplexity's second acquisition after Spellwise in 2023. The deal integrates Carbon's data connectors into Perplexity's tech stack to enhance personal AI functionality across home, work, and mobile workflows, with features rolling out in early 2025; the entire Carbon team joins Perplexity to accelerate development of enterprise search capabilities like Spaces and Internal File Search. The acquisition occurs amid intensifying competition in enterprise AI search, where rivals like OpenAI restrict investor overlap with leaders such as Glean Technologies, and follows Perplexity's 2024 product expansions including Enterprise Pro and live earnings call analysis. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas stated the move enables seamless research across diverse sources without manual platform switching, positioning it against OpenAI and others converging on chat interfaces with personal data integration.

Carbon acquisition details
AcquirerDateType
18 Dec 2024Strategic M&A

Carbon Funding History

Carbon has raised a total of $1M across 1 funding round.

Carbon funding rounds

Carbon funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Dec 2023SeedMKT1 Capital (lead); Treble (lead)$1MCarbon is a Seattle-based startup founded in 2022 that streamlines connections between large language models and unstructured data from third-party applications like Google Drive and SharePoint. The company raised a $1.3 million seed round in 2023 from investors including Treble and MKT1 Capital, along with several angels. Carbon had four employees at the time and was later acquired by Perplexity, an AI search company valued at $9 billion, with the team joining Perplexity in San Francisco. Carbon's CEO Derek Tu described the outcome as solid for investors and the team, noting its evolution into a leading solution for generative AI data connectivity.

Who has invested in Carbon?

2 investors have backed Carbon across its funding rounds, including Treble and MKT1 Capital.

Lead investors include MKT1 Capital and Treble.


Carbon Investors

Investors in Carbon by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check

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Acquisitions by Carbon

Carbon has acquired 1 company to date.

Last acquisition by Carbon was on August 24th 2022. Carbon acquired ParaMatters for undisclosed valuation.


Latest Acquisitions by Carbon

ParaMatters
Description
ParaMatters is an Austin-based digital manufacturing software provider with its DMCP platform integrating generative design, additive manufacturing, and inspection tools. Generative design handles isotropic and fiber-reinforced composites for lightweight parts used in aerospace by Boeing suppliers. Additive modules support SLM, DMLS, and FDM processes with auto-orientation, nesting, and support generation on EOS and Stratasys printers. Inspection features align scans from Artec 3D against CAD models for deviation analysis.
HQ CountryUnited States
HQ City
Los Angeles, CA
Deal Date24 Aug 2022
Valuationundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Carbon Competitors

Carbon competitors include listed companies like Snowflake and Z.ai, and private ones like Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek and Cognition.

Public and private companies comparable to Carbon
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
AnthropicUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate$47B-$965B20.5x
OpenAIUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate$25B-$852B34.1x
SnowflakeUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$4.7B($1.3B)$108B18.3x
DeepSeekChinaHangzhouPrivate--$89B-
CognitionUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate$900M-$48B53.3x
Z.aiChinaChinaPublicly listed$109M($663M)$30B36.3x

Carbon Public Comps

Carbon is no longer listed, but its public comps include Palantir, Snowflake, Z.ai, IonQ, MiniMax Group, Presight AI, Ncino, Affle 3i, C3.ai and Haizhi.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Palantir$4.5B$1.5B96.8x56.9x298.0x94.3x
Snowflake$4.7B($1.3B)23.1x18.3x(85.1x)104.0x
Z.ai$109M($663M)273.4x36.3x(44.9x)(44.9x)
IonQ$130M($531M)83.4x27.5x(20.4x)(26.4x)
MiniMax Group$79M($1.9B)77.1x-(3.2x)-
Presight AI$825M$214M6.0x4.9x23.0x19.1x
Ncino$595M$65M4.5x4.2x41.1x16.1x
Affle 3i$285M$67M6.3x5.6x26.7x24.7x

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Common questions about Carbon

When was Carbon founded?Carbon was founded in 2022.
Where is Carbon headquartered?Carbon is headquartered in Seattle, WA, United States.
Is Carbon publicly listed?No, Carbon was acquired by Perplexity in December 2024.
Who acquired Carbon?Carbon was acquired by Perplexity in December 2024.
How much funding has Carbon raised?Carbon has raised $1M across 1 funding round.
What was Carbon's last funding round?Carbon's last funding round was a $1M seed round in December 2023, led by MKT1 Capital and Treble.
Who are Carbon's investors?Carbon's investors include MKT1 Capital and Treble.
Which companies are comparable to Carbon?Companies comparable to Carbon include Anthropic, OpenAI, Snowflake, DeepSeek, Cognition and Z.ai.
How many companies has Carbon acquired?Carbon has acquired 1 company, including ParaMatters.

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