Read.cv, a social media platform for professionals that rivals LinkedIn, has been acquired by AI-powered search engine Perplexity. As part of the deal, Read.cv will begin ceasing operations on Friday. Users will be able to export their data, including profiles, posts, and messages, until May 16. Read blog.cv. “In that spirit, we are excited to join the design and engineering teams at Perplexity to continue our mission of exploration and discovery.” Today I’m happy to share that @read_cv is joining the team at @perplexity_ai in their mission to make the world’s knowledge more accessible to everyone. This is very bittersweet for us, because the beginning of this new chapter will mark the end of our time with @read_cv. It has… pic.twitter.com/6CUinOEGsi — andy chung (@_andychung) January 17, 2025 A spokesperson for Perplexity confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch via email, but did not provide additional details. “We are excited to have the Read.cv team join Perplexity,” Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas wrote in a post on X. many exciting new directions!” Read.cv, founded in 2021 by Andy Chung, previously a product designer at Facebook, Mozilla, and Salesforce-owned Quip, offers a variety of tools that allow users to share their resumes and chat with other professionals in the industry. Read.cv also offers capabilities for organizations, such as team profiles and the ability to post job listings and conduct candidate searches. Most recently, Read.cv launched Sites, a feature that allows users to publish personal websites using their Read.cv profiles. Users can even get a “.cv” domain from Read.cv and link it to their profile, if they want. Read.cv said it will migrate the “.cv” domain starting January 31 to its partner at Hello.cv, where users will be able to continue managing it. Read.cv feed, where users can share their profiles, posts, and job listings. Image Credit:Read.cv Perplexity’s plans for West Berkeley-based Read.cv, which has about three employees and is backed by funding from F7 Ventures and Fanjul Capital, are unclear. But Perplexity is increasingly investing in enterprise-focused functionality, last summer launching an enterprise plan with user management, “internal knowledge search,” and more. The move is likely at the behest of the VCs backing Perplexity, who are certainly keen to see a faster return. Perplexity has reportedly raised over $500 million in capital from investors, including Institutional Venture Partners, and is said to be valued at $9 billion. Read.cv is Perplexity’s third acquisition following its purchase of Carbon, which specializes in connecting AI systems to external data sources. In 2023, Perplexity acquired Spellwise, whose CEO was brought in to develop Perplexity’s mobile app. TechCrunch has an AI-focused newsletter! Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.
Perplexity acquires Read.cv, a social media platform for professionals
