AI voice startup ElevenLabs pushes global expansion as it gears up for an IPO

AI voice startup ElevenLabs pushes global expansion as it gears up for an IPO


Founded in 2022, ElevenLabs is an AI voice generation startup based in London. It competes with the likes of Speechmatics and Hume AI.

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

LONDON — ElevenLabs, a London-based startup that specializes in generating synthetic voices through artificial intelligence, has revealed plans to be IPO-ready within five years.

The company told CNBC it is targeting major global expansion as it prepares for an initial public offering.

“We expect to build more hubs in Europe, Asia and South America, and just keep scaling,” Mati Staniszewski, ElevenLabs’ CEO and co-founder, told CNBC in an interview at the firm’s London office.

He identified Paris, Singapore, Brazil and Mexico as potential new locations. London is currently ElevenLabs’ biggest office, followed by New York, Warsaw, San Francisco, Japan, India and Bangalore.

Staniszewski said the eventual aim is to get the company ready for an IPO in the next five years.

“From a commercial standpoint, we would like to be ready for an IPO in that time,” he said. “If the market is right, we would like to create a public company … that’s going to be here for the next generation.”

Undecided on location

Founded in 2022 by Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski, ElevenLabs is an AI voice generation startup that competes with the likes of Speechmatics and Hume AI.

The company divides its business into three main camps: consumer-facing voice assistants, integrations with corporates such as Cisco, and tailor-made applications for specific industries like health care.

Staniszewski said the firm hasn’t yet decided where it could list, but that this decision will largely rest on where most of its users are located at the time.

“If the U.K. is able to start accelerating,” ElevenLabs will consider London as a listing destination, Staniszewski said.

The city has faced criticisms from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that its stock market is unfavorable toward high-growth tech firms.

For example, Deliveroo, whose shares tanked nearly 30% when the company went public, was recently acquired by U.S. food delivery rival DoorDash for close to $4 billion.

Meanwhile, British money transfer firm Wise last month said it plans to move its primary listing location to the U.S.,

Fundraising plans

ElevenLabs was valued at $3.3 billion following a recent $180 million funding round. The company is backed by the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and ICONIQ Growth, as well as corporate names like Salesforce and Deutsche Telekom.

Staniszewski said his startup was open to raising more money from VCs, but it would depend on whether it sees a valid business need, like scaling further in other markets. “The way we try to raise is very much like, if there’s a bet we want to take, to accelerate that bet [we will] take the money,” he said.



Source

U.S. lifts chip software curbs on China amid trade truce, Synopsys says
Technology

U.S. lifts chip software curbs on China amid trade truce, Synopsys says

Synopsys logo is seen displayed on a smartphone with the flag of China in the background. Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images The U.S. government has rescinded its export restrictions on chip design software to China, U.S.-based Synopsys announced Thursday.  “Synopsys is working to restore access to the recently restricted products in China,” it […]

Read More
Datadog stock jumps 10% on tech company’s inclusion in S&P 500 index
Technology

Datadog stock jumps 10% on tech company’s inclusion in S&P 500 index

The Datadog stand is being displayed on day one of the AWS Summit Seoul 2024 at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul, South Korea, on May 16, 2024. Chris Jung | Nurphoto | Getty Images Datadog shares were up 10% in extended trading on Wednesday after S&P Global said the monitoring software provider […]

Read More
OpenAI says Robinhood’s tokens aren’t equity in the company
Technology

OpenAI says Robinhood’s tokens aren’t equity in the company

Jaque Silva | Nurphoto | Getty Images OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood‘s latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe. “These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and […]

Read More