AI Voice Startup ElevenLabs Hits $11B Valuation on $500M Raise

$11 billion. That's what investors now think a three-year-old voice AI startup is worth. ElevenLabs announced Wednesday it had raised $500 million at an $11 billion valuation, more than tripling its worth from just three months ago.

The London-based company's meteoric rise reflects the broader AI investment frenzy, but also signals something deeper: voice is becoming the next battleground for how we interact with technology.

From $3.3B to $11B in Three Months

The numbers tell a remarkable story. In January 2025, ElevenLabs raised $180 million at a $3.3 billion valuation. Today's $11 billion price tag represents a 233% increase in just three months – the kind of growth typically seen over years, not quarters.

Sequoia Capital led the round, joined by existing backers Andreessen Horowitz and Iconiq, plus new investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Evantic Capital, and Bond. Notably, cofounder Mati Staniszewski revealed that Nvidia had also invested in September, adding hardware credibility to the software play.

The company closed 2025 with over $330 million in annual recurring revenue, driven by enterprise adoption from companies like Deutsche Telekom and Revolut. Tech giants Meta and Salesforce use its voice infrastructure to power their own products.

Beyond Voice: Building the Audio Internet

ElevenLabs started with text-to-speech AI but has evolved into something more ambitious. The company now offers speech-to-text, sound effects, dubbing, music generation, and conversational AI. Publishers like Time and chip giant Nvidia use its platform to generate and localize audio content.

"This funding helps us go beyond voice alone to transform how we interact with technology altogether," Staniszewski said, hinting at plans to "enable businesses to build agents that can talk, type, and take action."

The company is preparing for an IPO while expanding internationally, with offices across Europe, Brazil, Mexico, India, South Korea, Japan, and the U.S.

The Great AI Funding Rush

The ElevenLabs raise sits within a broader AI investment boom. European AI startups raised a record $21.6 billion in 2025, according to Dealroom. French AI model builder Mistral raised €1.7 billion, while UK AI infrastructure company Nscale secured $1.1 billion.

The U.S. market dwarfs Europe with $164.6 billion raised by AI startups in 2025. About $70 billion went to just three companies: OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. Amazon reportedly considers investing up to $50 billion in OpenAI.

The Voice Interface Revolution

What makes ElevenLabs different isn't just its technology – it's the timing. As AI becomes more conversational, voice interfaces are replacing screens for many interactions. The company's expansion from simple text-to-speech into comprehensive audio generation positions it at the center of this shift.

But questions remain about market dynamics. Can multiple voice AI platforms coexist, or will this become a winner-take-all market? How will tech giants respond as startups like ElevenLabs threaten their voice assistant dominance?