ElevenLabs lists BlackRock, Jamie Foxx and Eva Longoria as new investors

Source: TechCrunch

Funding round and new investors

Voice AI company ElevenLabs announced new investors as part of its $500 million Series D fundraise, which was first announced in February. The additions include institutions such as BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders; enterprises like NVIDIA, Salesforce, Santander, KPN, and Deutsche Telekom; and individual investors such as Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria, and Squid Game creator Hwang Dong‑hyuk.

Financial performance

ElevenLabs surpassed $500 million in ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue), after ending last year with nearly $350 million in ARR. The company’s co‑founder and CEO, Mati Staniszewski, said the startup added $100 million in net new ARR in Q1 2026, ending the quarter at roughly $450 million in ARR.

Valuation

The company’s valuation has accelerated rapidly, growing from $6.6 billion last September to $11 billion this February.

Deutsche Telekom endorsement

“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,”
— Karine Peters, Managing Director at Deutsche Telekom’s venture arm T. Capital

Enterprise contracts

In the past quarter, ElevenLabs signed enterprise contracts with Deutsche Telekom, Revolut, and Klarna.

Additional tender and retail investment opportunity

Besides the fundraising, ElevenLabs closed a $100 million tender, the second such deal in roughly six months after a similar tender issued in September. Staniszewski noted in a blog post that the company will give retail investors an opportunity to invest in ElevenLabs through Robinhood Ventures, though details about the program were not provided.

Acquisition to bolster research

Staniszewski highlighted the importance of building “human‑level AI voice models” and noted that consumers won’t trust systems that sound robotic or “interact strangely.” To strengthen its research capabilities, ElevenLabs acquired the team from Polish voice AI startup Papla.