Voice AI Startup ElevenLabs Raises $80M Series B, Attains Unicorn Status Following Latest Funding Round
London-based AI startup ElevenLabs achieves unicorn status with a $1.1 billion valuation after securing $80 million in Series B funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross.
ElevenLabs, a two-year-old voice technology research startup based in London, has successfully raised $80 million in a Series B funding round. The round was co-led by prominent investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, with participation from Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, Smash Capital, BroadLight Capital, and Credo Ventures. The funding aims to solidify ElevenLabs' position as a leading force in voice AI research and the deployment of innovative products.
While ElevenLabs did not disclose its valuation, sources familiar with the matter revealed that the funding round valued the startup at $1.1 billion. This significant jump from its previous $100 million valuation in 2023 reflects the growing investor interest in generative AI technology, particularly AI voice generation tools.
Since its public launch, ElevenLabs has been at the forefront of natural speech synthesis, enabling users to create AI voices across various languages and accents, delivering a wide range of emotions and intonations. Users have generated over 100 years of audio on the platform, and the company has grown from 5 to 40 employees. ElevenLabs technology is currently utilized by employees at 41% of Fortune 500 companies, its customer base includes individual content creators and enterprises such as Storytel, Paradox Interactive, and The Washington Post.
The new funding will be instrumental in refining ElevenLabs' product offerings and ensuring the safe deployment of AI technology. The company has also announced several new product developments:
- Dubbing Studio Workflow: Allows users to dub entire movies, generate and edit transcripts, translations, and timecodes, providing more control over content production.
- Voice Library Marketplace: A platform where users can earn from AI versions of their own voices. Creators can create a professional AI voice replica, share it via Voice Library, and receive compensation when others use their voices.
- Mobile App Reader (Early Preview): Enables instant conversion of text and URLs into audio, facilitating easier access to content on the go.
Throughout 2023, ElevenLabs has expanded its presence in various sectors, including publishing, gaming, media, and conversational AI, forging partnerships with major companies in these domains.
The company has continuously expanded its suite of tools, including Speech Synthesis, Voice Design, Voice Cloning, Speech to Speech, and AI Dubbing. The AI Dubbing tool can automatically translate audio and video into 29 languages while preserving the original speaker's voice and emotions.
ElevenLabs is committed to the safe and responsible development of AI, with a focus on enabling detection to ensure the clear identification of AI-generated content. The company has developed safeguards, including an AI Speech Classifier, to verify if an audio sample contains content generated by ElevenLabs.
