AI startup Eleven Labs announced Wednesday that it has raised $500 million at a valuation of $11 billion, with an eye toward a possible IPO.
Sequoia Capital led the round, with participation from existing backers Andreessen Horowitz and Iconiq, as well as new investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Evantic Capital, and Bond.
The raise more than triples the $3.3 billion valuation of Eleven Labs, which received a $180 million Series C in January 2025. Co-founder Matty Staniszewski said NVIDIA invested in the company in September.
Founded in 2022, the London-based company initially developed AI text-to-speech models and has since expanded into areas such as text-to-speech, sound effects, voice-overs, music, and dialogue.
The company sells products that enable businesses to deploy voice and chat agents and a platform for brands and creators to generate and localize audio, used by publisher Time and chip giants. Nvidia.
The tech giants are meta and sales force Eleven Labs said it uses its voice infrastructure to develop products and experiences.
The company ended 2025 with annual recurring revenue of more than $330 million, driven by enterprise adoption by companies such as Deutsche Telekom and Revolut, the company said.
“This funding will help us fundamentally transform the way we interact with technology beyond just voice,” co-founder Matti Staniszewski said in a statement, adding that the company is preparing for an IPO.
He added that the company intends to expand its services for creators and “empower businesses to build agents that can talk, input, and take actions.”
Eleven Lab said it will continue to expand internationally. We have offices throughout Europe, as well as in Brazil, Mexico, India, South Korea, Japan and the United States.
Funding for AI startups reaches record levels
Funding for AI startups will reach record levels in 2025 as investors bet big on the technology’s transformative impact.
European AI startups raised a record $21.6 billion in 2025, according to deal aggregation platform Dealroom.
Two of the largest rounds were French AI model building company Mistral raising €1.7 billion and British AI infrastructure company Nscale raising $1.1 billion.
German defense technology Hellsing also raised €600 million in 2025, and British AI avatar startup Synthesia also raised $200 million in January.
According to Dealroom, U.S. AI startups raised $164.6 billion in 2025, led by nearly $70 billion in funding for OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI.
CNBC reported in January that Amazon could invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI.
