ElevenLabs raises $500 million in Series D, valuation jumps to $11 bn

Sequoia-led funding round triples voice-AI startup's valuation as it expands beyond speech into full audio stack

Voice artificial intelligence startup ElevenLabs has raised $500 million in a Series D funding round led by Sequoia Capital, with Andrew Reed joining the company’s board. The funding values ElevenLabs at $11 billion, more than tripling its valuation from a year ago, and takes its total funding to $781 million across five rounds since its founding in 2022.

 

The company said existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) quadrupled down on their investment, while ICONIQ tripled down, both with significant super pro-rata participation. New investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Evantic Capital and BOND also joined the round. Existing backers BroadLight, NFDG and Valor Capital continue to support the company, with additional investor participation expected to be disclosed later in February.

 

 

Founded in 2022, ElevenLabs began by developing human-like AI text-to-speech models. Since then, the company has expanded beyond voice, advancing research across speech-to-text, sound effects, dubbing, music and conversational AI.

 

“We started by building a voice that could sound human — and we did. Today, we are building foundational models across the full audio stack — text to speech, transcription, music, dubbing and conversational models — with a world-leading research team,” said Piotr Dabkowski, co-founder of ElevenLabs. “We are also optimising these models for product experiences that we believe will redefine benchmarks,” he added.

 

The company has also been expanding its presence in India. In January, ElevenLabs appointed Karthik Rajaram as general manager and country head for India. It currently works with Indian firms such as Meesho and Pocket FM.

 

In an earlier statement, ElevenLabs said India has become its largest global market. The company is expanding its local team to meet demand, investing in AI audio research, and supporting local initiatives in the country.

 

“This funding helps us go beyond voice alone to transform how we interact with technology altogether. We plan to expand our creative offering — helping creators combine our best-in-class audio with video — and build agents that can talk, type and take action,” said Mati Staniszewski, co-founder of ElevenLabs.