The ElevenLabs team. Photo Credit: ElevenLabs
Nearly eight months after raising $500 million at an $11 billion valuation, ElevenLabs is now valued at a staggering $22 billion. Meanwhile, Goldman, EQT, and several others have invested in the voice-focused AI business “for the first time.”
ElevenLabs shed light on the valuation jump and its newest investors in a brief announcement today. Regarding the hike to $22 billion, the company cited ongoing “enterprise demand for conversational agents”; more here in a moment,
On the investment side, ElevenLabs also disclosed the completion of a $300 million employee tender offer – albeit without divulging the precise strategic motivation behind the move. In general, a push to retain quality talent stands out as a possible explanation given the capital-heavy sector’s high-demand hiring market.
Whatever the reason(s) for the Wellington- and T. Rowe Price-led tender, eligible members of the more than 800-person team had the opportunity to cash in on their vested equity. And bearing in mind the above numbers, the same individuals may have benefited from massive paydays, which could, of course, prompt some to call it a career.
(Worth highlighting is that the business’s website currently points to almost 200 open positions across 53 locations.)
Returning to the new investors, as part of the tender, ElevenLabs noted the addition of Goldman, EQT, Singapore’s GIC, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Sapphire Ventures, and BDT & MSD as backers “for the first time.” Plus, the offer is said to have drawn participation from existing stakeholders a16z, Lightspeed, Iconiq, D. E. Shaw, Evantic, Disruptive, and Alkeon.
Notwithstanding ElevenLabs’ aggressive buildout (including into music) and the broader space’s rapid expansion, the $22 billion figure naturally raises questions about which areas are driving growth for the company.
As mentioned, ElevenLabs didn’t hesitate to emphasize enterprise adoption of ElevenAgents, consisting of “natural, human-sounding agents” assisting customers across voice, chat, and email alike, as the leading contributor.
All told, enterprise accounts for 55% of ElevenLabs’ revenue, according to the text, with Stripe, Deutsche Telekom, and DoorDash-owned SevenRooms among the companies that have deployed ElevenAgents since February.
During the same window, the support-focused agents’ weekly conversations (“more than 15 million conversations every week”) and annual recurring revenue have both spiked by three times as well, per ElevenLabs.
“We’re already seeing rapid adoption of expressive voice agents by enterprises and governments, who are deploying them in service of consumers and citizens. As we grow, it’s important to us to let our people share in some of the value they are creating for our customers and the wider world,” concluded ElevenLabs co-founder and CEO Mati Staniszewski.
