A young programmer from Mumbai has turned a bedroom project into a thriving AI search platform that rivals industry giants. Zaid Mukaddam’s creation now handles over one million monthly searches, proving that innovation doesn’t always require venture capital backing.
From Inspiration to Internet Sensation
Mukaddam launched his journey in August 2024, driven by frustration with existing premium search tools he considered overpriced. The 22-year-old self-taught developer, who only began coding at 18, initially dubbed his project “MiniPerplx” as a direct challenge to Perplexity AI’s dominance.
His cybersecurity background from Mumbai’s Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management & Engineering provided the foundation, but passion fueled the execution. When Mukaddam shared his creation on social media platform X, the response was immediate and overwhelming. The announcement garnered 14,000 impressions and caught the attention of tech luminaries, including Vercel’s CEO Guillermo Rauch.
The GitHub repository tells the story of explosive growth. Starting with just 200 stars ten months ago, it now boasts over 8,400 stars and more than 1,000 forks from developers worldwide. This organic expansion reflects genuine community interest in open-source alternatives to proprietary search solutions.
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Technical Prowess Meets Real-World Demand
Scira AI distinguishes itself through comprehensive functionality that extends far beyond basic web searches. The platform seamlessly integrates multiple AI models, including xAI’s Grok, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and OpenAI’s GPT series, creating a versatile search ecosystem.
Users can explore academic papers through Exa AI, discover YouTube videos with detailed captions, browse social media content from X and Reddit, and even execute Python code with chart generation capabilities. The platform’s specialized search modes cover entertainment, finance, travel, weather information, stock charts, currency conversion, and location services through strategic partnerships with OpenWeather API, Google Maps, Aviation Stack, and TMDB.
December 2024 brought both triumph and crisis. Overnight traffic surged from 500 to 16,000 users, threatening to bankrupt the project through skyrocketing API costs. Groq, an AI hardware development company, provided crucial infrastructure support through their inference platform and Alibaba’s Qwen AI models, ensuring Scira’s survival during this critical growth phase.
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Industry Recognition and Future Prospects
The platform’s potential has attracted significant corporate attention. Current sponsorships from Vercel and xAI validate Scira’s market position, while acceptance into the prestigious Vercel AI Accelerator program represents a major milestone. With only 40 teams selected from over 1,500 applications, this achievement places Scira among the top 3% of AI startups globally.
Mukaddam’s commitment to open-source development through Apache 2.0 licensing sets Scira apart in an industry increasingly dominated by closed systems. The platform’s technical foundation includes modern frameworks like Next.js, Tailwind CSS, and the Vercel AI SDK, while memory management through Mem0 AI enables personalized user experiences.
The developer’s journey from curious teenager learning JavaScript to building a globally recognized AI platform demonstrates how individual innovation can compete with well-funded startups.
Through community support, technical excellence, and unwavering dedication, Mukaddam has created a compelling alternative that continues attracting users seeking powerful, accessible search capabilities.
