Alongside Mistral AI, Nscale and Lovable, ELEVEN LABS embodies Europe’s new generation of AI-native startups

Alongside Mistral AI, Nscale, Lovable, n8n and Legora, ElevenLabs illustrates the emergence of a new generation of so-called AI-native startups. These are companies that do not merely add AI to an existing product, but build their offering, interface and business model directly around the capabilities of AI models.

Founded in London by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski, two Polish entrepreneurs with experience in US technology companies including Google and Palantir, ElevenLabs was born from the idea that voice is one of the most natural interfaces between people and machines.

A product built around models from the outset

To achieve this, ElevenLabs built its product on a technology stack dedicated to high-fidelity voice synthesis, capable of reproducing intonation, rhythm and emotion. This capability remains central. It provides the foundation for a broader platform designed to support continuous, contextual interactions integrated into business systems.

ElevenAgents, the centrepiece of its enterprise strategy

The company’s current offering centres on ElevenAgents, a voice and conversational-agent platform for businesses. Its aim is to enable agents that can understand intent, hold fluid conversations and act within existing workflows—whether in customer support, contact centres, personal assistance or sales operations.

From a product perspective, the value lies in orchestrating a technical stack spanning speech-to-text, text-to-speech, monitoring, knowledge management, application integrations, deployment and evaluation.

From creative use cases to industrial deployments

ElevenLabs retains its historical offering for creators—narration, voice-over and multilingual audio production—which contributed significantly to its early visibility. This business remains strategic, particularly for model training and the exploration of new formats. But its growth has increasingly been driven by professional use cases.

The company therefore combines two engines: broad self-serve distribution among developers and creators, and a growing enterprise business supported by large-scale deployments in critical environments.

A commercial trajectory already at scale

This product maturity is reflected in ElevenLabs’ financial indicators. The startup closed 2025 with more than $330 million in annual recurring revenue, supported by rapid enterprise adoption. Its trajectory is striking: while it took nearly twenty months to reach $100 million in ARR, it needed less than another year to surpass $200 million.

Its revenue base now includes significant contracts, particularly in contact centres and voice-assistance systems, with commitments that can reach several million dollars per customer.

A funding round that confirms a change in status

ElevenLabs has announced a $500 million Series D, valuing the company at $11 billion. The round is led by Sequoia Capital, alongside existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz and ICONIQ Capital, as well as new investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Bond Capital. NVIDIA is also among the investors.