ElevenLabs Attains Unicorn Status with $80 Million Series B Funding Led by Andreessen Horowitz

• ByStartupStory     |    January 23, 2024

ElevenLabs, a leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup, has achieved unicorn status following its recent Series B funding round, according to sources familiar with the matter. The surge in investor interest for generative AI technology has propelled the startup’s valuation, with the latest round raising $80 million from investors led by venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz, alongside entrepreneurs Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, with participation from Sequoia Capital and others.

Although the two-year-old firm did not disclose its valuation, sources suggest that the funding round has valued ElevenLabs at $1.1 billion, signifying its entry into the prestigious unicorn club. This substantial increase from its $100 million valuation in the previous funding round in 2023 underscores the rising demand for AI voice generation technology across diverse industries, from gaming giants to movie studios.

Headquartered in London, ElevenLabs specializes in developing AI models and tools for creating AI-generated voices featuring various languages, accents, and emotions. With approximately 40 remote workers globally, the company plans to expand its workforce to 100 by the end of the year, according to CEO Mati Staniszewski.

Staniszewski, while refraining from commenting on the specific valuation, stated, “We’ll see more AI content across social media campaigns. The key primitive is to make sure that people are aware that it’s AI. We are big proponents of being able to detect AI content and trace it back.”

ElevenLabs serves a diverse customer base, including individual content creators and enterprises such as Storytel, Paradox Interactive, and The Washington Post. Political campaign staff in the United States are also utilizing ElevenLabs to reach voters who speak foreign languages.

The startup’s tools, including the AI Speech Classifier, aid in identifying AI-generated audio content. Additionally, the company focuses on dubbing for movies and is developing a marketplace enabling users to generate AI voices and monetize them through licensing.

In the competitive landscape of AI, ElevenLabs faces rivals like OpenAI, known for ChatGPT, which popularized generative AI. Mati Staniszewski highlighted a significant difference, stating, “I think the biggest difference is that we … want to build the research, but also that workflow layer. And for us, this is the focus.”

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