ElevenLabs Adds BlackRock, Foxx, Longoria to Series D Investors
ElevenLabs, a company focused on voice artificial intelligence, has named additional participants in its $500 million Series D funding round. First revealed in February, the investors now feature major institutions like BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders. Corporate participants include NVIDIA, Salesforce, Santander, KPN, and Deutsche Telekom. Celebrities and creators such as actor Jamie Foxx, actress Eva Longoria, and Hwang Dong-hyuk, known for creating Squid Game, also joined as individual backers.
BlackRock stands as one of the largest asset management firms globally, overseeing trillions in assets and often investing in technology sectors. NVIDIA provides essential hardware for AI development through its graphics processing units. Salesforce offers customer relationship management software with AI integrations. Deutsche Telekom operates major telecommunications networks across Europe.
Revenue Hits New Milestone
The firm announced it passed $500 million in annual recurring revenue. This follows nearly $350 million at the close of last year. Co-founder and CEO Mati Staniszewski shared last month that the company gained $100 million in net new annual recurring revenue during the first quarter of 2026. That quarter concluded with about $450 million in annual recurring revenue.
ElevenLabs specializes in generating realistic speech from text, supporting applications like audiobooks, dubbing, and virtual assistants. Its growth reflects rising demand for high-quality voice synthesis in industries from entertainment to customer service.
Valuation Doubles in Months
The company's value climbed quickly from $6.6 billion last September to $11 billion this February. This surge aligns with expanding adoption of its technology by businesses worldwide.
Karine Peters, Managing Director at Deutsche Telekom's venture arm T. Capital, commented on the investment. She stated, "Voice is the highest-stakes channel for any customer interaction, and the bar for quality, latency, and security is extremely high. ElevenLabs is not just a category leader, it is becoming a foundational enabler of Deutsche Telekom's broader Industrial AI vision. From voice-as-a-service to multilingual automation and in-network AI agents, we believe the company is uniquely positioned to reshape how businesses interact with customers across all channels."
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Recent Enterprise Wins
Over the past quarter, ElevenLabs secured deals with enterprises including Deutsche Telekom, Revolut, and Klarna. Revolut provides digital banking services, while Klarna handles buy-now-pay-later payments. These partnerships highlight the firm's push into financial and telecom sectors.
Tender Offer and Retail Access
Beyond the main fundraising, ElevenLabs completed a $100 million tender offer. This marks the second such offer in about six months, following one last September. Staniszewski mentioned in a blog post that retail investors can participate through Robinhood Ventures. He provided no further specifics on the program.
Focus on Human-Like Voice Tech
Staniszewski stressed that consumers reject systems with robotic sounds or odd interactions. He highlighted the need for AI voice models at human level. Last month, the company brought on the team from Polish voice AI startup Papla to strengthen its research efforts.
ElevenLabs launched in 2022 and quickly gained notice for tools that clone voices with minimal audio samples. Its platform supports over 20 languages and serves creators, publishers, and enterprises seeking efficient audio production.