ElevenLabs, an AI audio startup, introduced on Thursday, January 30, that it has secured $180M (practically €173.45M) in a Sequence C funding spherical, bringing its post-money valuation to $3.3B (practically €3.18B).
We had beforehand revealed the reported funding information, and the corporate has now confirmed the main points. Whereas the lead traders and valuation align with our earlier report, the overall funding quantity is decrease than initially acknowledged.
The present funding spherical was co-led by a16z and ICONIQ Progress, with extra new traders NEA, World Innovation Lab (WiL), Valor, Endeavor Catalyst Fund and Lunate.
Present traders Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Smash Capital, SV Angel, NFDG, and BroadLight Capital additionally participated on this spherical.
ElevenLabs is additional partnering with strategic traders, together with Deutsche Telekom, LG Know-how Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, and RingCentral Ventures.
David George, normal accomplice and head of a16z’s Progress Fund, says, “Voice is turning into a key a part of how we work together with know-how, and ElevenLabs is making it work at scale. We’re thrilled to proceed to assist their work in constructing the following technology of AI.”
Seth Pierrepont, Normal Companion at ICONIQ Progress, provides, “We imagine ElevenLabs is redefining the best way we join with digital environments, putting voice on the very coronary heart of those transformative interactions. We’re thrilled to accomplice with such an revolutionary staff and contribute to their extraordinary journey to assist reshape the way forward for voice know-how.”
Capital utilisation
ElevenLabs stays centered on AI analysis, significantly in audio technology, underneath the management of CTO Piotr Dąbkowski, a TIME Journal AI High 100 Innovator. Over the previous 12 months, the corporate has expanded from 30 to 120 workers, with key hubs in London, New York, and Warsaw.
ElevenLabs will use the funds to gas developments in AI audio, specializing in extra expressive and controllable voice AI, developer instruments, and AI security. As the corporate expands into 2025, it goals to boost collaboration, enhance accessibility to its analysis, advance conversational AI, and convey its know-how to cell.
With a dedication to supporting all languages, accents, and dialects, the corporate is strengthening its presence in Asia, LATAM, and EMEA, working with strategic companions to refine its know-how for international impression.
“Speech is how we naturally talk. This funding strikes us nearer to a world the place digital interactions occur by voice – fluid, pure, and as easy as a dialog,” says Mati Staniszewski, CEO of ElevenLabs.
ElevenLabs is presently hiring for roles in analysis, engineering, and product.
Making content material accessible in any language and voice
Based in 2022 by Piotr Dąbkowski, a former Google machine studying engineer, and Mati Staniszewski, a former Palantir deployment strategist, ElevenLabs specialises in pure speech synthesis.
It’s an AI audio firm centered on creating know-how for producing lifelike and context-aware speech, voices, and sound results in 32 languages. Its instruments are designed for a variety of customers, together with people, companies, and inventive professionals.
Purposes embrace voicing audiobooks, animating characters, localising media, creating dynamic content material, and supporting accessibility wants. The corporate emphasises secure growth and deployment of its AI voice know-how.
The corporate launched its first beta product in January 2023 and gained traction, elevating a $19M Sequence A in June 2023. Its product and analysis groups are based mostly in Europe, together with the UK, Poland and Hungary, whereas its US operations concentrate on gross sales and partnerships.
Previous to the present spherical, in January 2024, ElevenLabs secured $80M (practically €73.46M) in a Sequence B spherical of funding.
