AI voice firm ElevenLabs raises $250M at over $3B valuation
What's the story
New York-based synthetic voice start-up ElevenLabs has raised a whopping $250 million in a Series C funding round.
The round, led by ICONIQ Growth, valued the company between $3 billion and $3.3 billion, according to TechCrunch.
The massive funding comes just a year after ElevenLabs raised an impressive $80 million in Series B funding in January 2024 from lead investor Andreessen Horowitz.
Expansion
Rapid growth and investor interest
ElevenLabs has been on a rapid growth trajectory, with its AI audio technology being adopted widely. This growth spurt has generated a lot of interest among investors in the company.
ElevenLabs had originally sought funding at a $4 billion valuation but ultimately settled for a still-impressive $3 billion valuation, tripling its unicorn status from last year's Series B round.
Evolution
The journey of ElevenLabs
Founded in 2022, ElevenLabs was established by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dabkowski, who previously worked at Palantir and Google, respectively.
The duo wanted to enhance the quality of dubbing in American videos with the help of AI.
They launched their first beta product in January 2023, and by June that year, they raised $19 million in Series A funding after going viral.
Tech application
A versatile tool for various industries
ElevenLabs's tech comes with a range of applications, including text-to-speech translation (in several languages), voice cloning, voice alteration in audio tracks, and creation of new voices.
The technology is available through an API and comes with different usage tiers.
It has been adopted by tech platforms like Syntheisa, publishing giants such as Washington Post, HarperCollins, Bertelsmann, as well as gaming companies.
Financials
Revenue growth and market valuation
Back in October 2024, sources revealed that ElevenLabs's annualized recurring revenue (ARR) had grown from $25 million in 2023 to $80 million.
By November, some pegged its ARR closer to $90 million.
If true, the $4 billion valuation would have been a multiple of 44 times ARR, but the deal was closed at a slightly more conservative multiple of 37 times ARR.