AI audio startup ElevenLabs secured a significant $500 million funding round, valuing the company at $11 billion. This substantial investment, led by venture capital giant Sequoia Capital, with participation from prominent existing investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Iconiq, as well as new backers Lightspeed Venture Partners, Evantic Capital, and Bond, underscores the intense investor confidence in the rapidly evolving AI audio landscape. The valuation represents a more than threefold increase from ElevenLabs’ previous Series C funding round in January 2025, where it was valued at $3.3 billion. Notably, co-founder Mati Staniszewski revealed that Nvidia had also invested in the company in September.
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in London, ElevenLabs has rapidly expanded its capabilities beyond its initial AI text-to-speech models. The company now offers a comprehensive suite of AI-powered audio solutions, including speech-to-text, sound effects generation, sophisticated dubbing, AI-generated music, and conversational AI. Their product suite empowers enterprises to deploy advanced voice and chat agents, while also providing a robust platform for brands and creators to generate and localize audio content. This has attracted a diverse clientele, including major publishers like Time and technology titans such as Nvidia. Leading tech conglomerates like Meta and Salesforce are also leveraging ElevenLabs’ voice infrastructure to enhance their own product development and user experiences.
ElevenLabs reported a strong financial performance, closing 2025 with over $330 million in annual recurring revenue. This growth was largely propelled by widespread enterprise adoption, with key clients including Deutsche Telekom and Revolut.
“This infusion of capital will empower us to move beyond voice technology alone and fundamentally reshape how humans interact with technology,” stated co-founder Mati Staniszewski. He emphasized the company’s strategic focus on an eventual initial public offering (IPO) and its ambition to empower creators by enabling businesses to develop sophisticated agents capable of understanding, communicating, and executing actions. ElevenLabs also plans to accelerate its international expansion, building on its existing presence across Europe, Brazil, Mexico, India, South Korea, Japan, and the United States.
The surge in funding for ElevenLabs aligns with a broader trend of record-breaking investment in AI startups throughout 2025. Investors are demonstrating a strong conviction in the transformative potential of artificial intelligence across various sectors. European AI startups, in particular, experienced a banner year, attracting a record $21.6 billion in funding, according to data from Dealroom. Notable funding rounds included French AI model developer Mistral, which raised 1.7 billion euros, and UK-based AI infrastructure firm Nscale, which secured $1.1 billion. Other significant investments saw German defense tech company Helsing raise 600 million euros and UK AI avatar startup Synthesia garner $200 million in January. In the U.S., AI startups raised an impressive $164.6 billion, largely driven by substantial investments in OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, with reports indicating Amazon’s potential to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI.
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