Written by
Perplexity Team
Published on
Perplexity Computer for Growing Businesses
The difference between a “startup” and a “small business” has never been smaller than it is today.
A three-person SaaS company and an eight-person roofing business used to live in different worlds. One raised capital from VCs and shipped code; the other took out an SBA loan and ran on spreadsheets.
Today, they run on the same stack (a payment processor, a CRM, a dozen browser tabs), and they face the same problem: their tools add up faster than their headcount, and the information inside those tools gets under-utilized. Great ideas stall before they can compound.
What’s left is a single category, growing businesses, and a single question: who builds the best tools for them?
Today Perplexity is announcing the Main Street AI Accelerator, a $25 million Computer credits program, in coordination with Small Business Development Centers of the SBA.
It is the first time a major AI company has launched a program directly alongside the SBA, and the largest commitment by an AI company dedicated specifically to growing businesses.
The SBA is the most credible voice on small business in the U.S. Its 7(a) and 504 loan and microloan programs back the credits, making $250 in credits available to up to 100,000 eligible companies, in honor of America's 250th anniversary. More builders reaching scale is how economies grow, and this program is built to support them.
Computer works with the tools growing businesses already use
The value of credits becomes even greater once you know where to start. A growing business owner who is new to AI shouldn't have to figure it out alone. They should be able to choose the solutions built for their type of business, connect the tools they already use, and get to work.
Computer connects to 400+ tools that growing businesses already run on, including Intuit QuickBooks, Intuit Mailchimp, Shopify, and Stripe.
Other connectors are available today that cover the full business lifecycle:
Set up and manage admin for the company
doola: Business formation and back-office platform for founders, covering LLC formation, EIN, bookkeeping, US banking, and tax filings.
Meow: Bank accounts for AI agents and global teams, including virtual and physical cards for U.S. and international entities, FX, stablecoin payments, and more.
Build the product
Supabase: Open-source managed Postgres with integrated backend services. Database, Auth, Storage, Edge Functions, and Realtime in one platform, so developers can build without managing infrastructure.
Vercel: Agentic infrastructure platform where humans and AI agents build, ship, and scale software together.
Find the first customers
Apollo: Sales intelligence and engagement platform that helps users find and engage prospects.
ZoomInfo: Go-to-market intelligence that helps B2B sales teams convert customers using contact, firmographic, technographic, and intent data across sales, marketing, and recruiting teams.
Run the business and grow the audience
Canva: AI-powered visual communication platform for creating and collaborating on editable, on-brand designs - social posts, presentations, docs, websites, and more - and publishing to any channel.
Semrush: Brand visibility platform for AI search, SEO, advertising, social, content, and more.
Similarweb: Digital data platform that provides businesses with accurate and actionable digital intelligence.
Stay close to customers
Granola: AI notepad that transcribes computer audio directly, then combines the transcript with your own notes to produce structured summaries and action items.
Comet can handle the rest
Growing businesses also use a wide range of niche tools, such as a dental office’s appointment system or a roofer’s job-scheduling app. No integration list covers every one of these specialized platforms. But Comet can.
Comet is Perplexity's agentic browser. It logs into the tools a business already uses in the cloud, navigates them, pulls data, and completes tasks on any site with a login.
For tools without a connector, Comet picks up where the integrations end. Together, Computer and Comet form an operating layer that covers every tool growing businesses need.
Try Computer today.
Perplexity Computer for Growing Businesses
The difference between a “startup” and a “small business” has never been smaller than it is today.
A three-person SaaS company and an eight-person roofing business used to live in different worlds. One raised capital from VCs and shipped code; the other took out an SBA loan and ran on spreadsheets.
Today, they run on the same stack (a payment processor, a CRM, a dozen browser tabs), and they face the same problem: their tools add up faster than their headcount, and the information inside those tools gets under-utilized. Great ideas stall before they can compound.
What’s left is a single category, growing businesses, and a single question: who builds the best tools for them?
Today Perplexity is announcing the Main Street AI Accelerator, a $25 million Computer credits program, in coordination with Small Business Development Centers of the SBA.
It is the first time a major AI company has launched a program directly alongside the SBA, and the largest commitment by an AI company dedicated specifically to growing businesses.
The SBA is the most credible voice on small business in the U.S. Its 7(a) and 504 loan and microloan programs back the credits, making $250 in credits available to up to 100,000 eligible companies, in honor of America's 250th anniversary. More builders reaching scale is how economies grow, and this program is built to support them.
Computer works with the tools growing businesses already use
The value of credits becomes even greater once you know where to start. A growing business owner who is new to AI shouldn't have to figure it out alone. They should be able to choose the solutions built for their type of business, connect the tools they already use, and get to work.
Computer connects to 400+ tools that growing businesses already run on, including Intuit QuickBooks, Intuit Mailchimp, Shopify, and Stripe.
Other connectors are available today that cover the full business lifecycle:
Set up and manage admin for the company
doola: Business formation and back-office platform for founders, covering LLC formation, EIN, bookkeeping, US banking, and tax filings.
Meow: Bank accounts for AI agents and global teams, including virtual and physical cards for U.S. and international entities, FX, stablecoin payments, and more.
Build the product
Supabase: Open-source managed Postgres with integrated backend services. Database, Auth, Storage, Edge Functions, and Realtime in one platform, so developers can build without managing infrastructure.
Vercel: Agentic infrastructure platform where humans and AI agents build, ship, and scale software together.
Find the first customers
Apollo: Sales intelligence and engagement platform that helps users find and engage prospects.
ZoomInfo: Go-to-market intelligence that helps B2B sales teams convert customers using contact, firmographic, technographic, and intent data across sales, marketing, and recruiting teams.
Run the business and grow the audience
Canva: AI-powered visual communication platform for creating and collaborating on editable, on-brand designs - social posts, presentations, docs, websites, and more - and publishing to any channel.
Semrush: Brand visibility platform for AI search, SEO, advertising, social, content, and more.
Similarweb: Digital data platform that provides businesses with accurate and actionable digital intelligence.
Stay close to customers
Granola: AI notepad that transcribes computer audio directly, then combines the transcript with your own notes to produce structured summaries and action items.
Comet can handle the rest
Growing businesses also use a wide range of niche tools, such as a dental office’s appointment system or a roofer’s job-scheduling app. No integration list covers every one of these specialized platforms. But Comet can.
Comet is Perplexity's agentic browser. It logs into the tools a business already uses in the cloud, navigates them, pulls data, and completes tasks on any site with a login.
For tools without a connector, Comet picks up where the integrations end. Together, Computer and Comet form an operating layer that covers every tool growing businesses need.
Try Computer today.
Share this article