Perplexity acquires the team behind Sequioa-backed AI design startup VisualElectric

Visual Electric, an AI design startup backed by Sequoia, has announced it is joining the search startup Perplexity. The company stated on its website that its team will become part of a new Agent Experiences group at Perplexity.

Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, confirmed the acquisition in a social media post. The financial terms of the deal were not made public.

As part of this transition, Visual Electric will shut down its product in 90 days. The company said that users will have the ability to export their data, and subscribers will receive prorated refunds.

Visual Electric was founded in 2022 by Colin Dunn, a former employee of Facebook and Dropbox, Adam Menges, a former Apple employee, and Zach Stiggelbout, a former Microsoft engineer. The tool was designed for designers, allowing them to create images using artificial intelligence and apply edits on an infinite canvas. The idea was to help designers build ideas and concepts on a digital whiteboard. The company later added support for video generation.

The startup had raised 2.5 million dollars in funding from investors including Sequoia, BoxGroup, and Designer Fund.