ElevenLabs brings on BlackRock, Jamie Foxx and Longoria as new investors

ElevenLabs, a leader in Voice AI, has announced new participants in its $500 million Series D funding round, initially revealed in February. The investor roster now features major institutions like BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders, alongside strategic corporate backers including NVIDIA, Salesforce, Santander, KPN, and Deutsche Telekom. Notable individual investors joining the round include actors Jamie Foxx and Eva Longoria, as well as Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Squid Game.
Additionally, the startup reported crossing the $500 million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) threshold, a significant jump from the nearly $350 million recorded at the end of last year. Co-founder and CEO Mati Staniszewski previously stated that ElevenLabs generated $100 million in net new ARR during Q1 2026, bringing the total to approximately $450 million by quarter’s end.
The company’s valuation has also surged, climbing from $6.6 billion last September to $11 billion by February.
“Voice represents the most critical channel for customer engagement, demanding exceptional quality, low latency, and robust security. ElevenLabs is not merely a category leader but a cornerstone of Deutsche Telekom’s Industrial AI strategy,” said Karine Peters, Managing Director at T. Capital, Deutsche Telekom’s venture arm. “From voice-as-a-service to multilingual automation and in-network AI agents, we believe ElevenLabs is uniquely positioned to redefine business-customer interactions across all channels.”
Over the last quarter, the voice AI firm secured enterprise agreements with prominent brands such as Deutsche Telekom, Revolut, and Klarna.
ElevenLabs also finalized a $100 million tender offer, marking the second such transaction in six months following one launched last September. In a recent blog post, Staniszewski mentioned plans to offer retail investors the chance to invest in ElevenLabs via Robinhood Ventures, though specific details of the program remain undisclosed.
Staniszewski stressed that consumers will not trust systems that sound robotic or behave unnaturally, highlighting the necessity of developing “human-level AI voice models.” To strengthen its research capabilities, the company recently acquired the team from Polish voice AI startup Papla last month.
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ElevenLabs, a leader in Voice AI, has announced new participants in its $500 million Series D funding round, initially revealed in February. The investor roster now features major institutions like BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders, alongside strategic corporate backers including NVIDIA, Salesforce, Santander, KPN, and Deutsche Telekom. Notable individual investors joining the round include actors Jamie Foxx and Eva Longoria, as well as Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Squid Game.
Additionally, the startup reported crossing the $500 million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) threshold, a significant jump from the nearly $350 million recorded at the end of last year. Co-founder and CEO Mati Staniszewski previously stated that ElevenLabs generated $100 million in net new ARR during Q1 2026, bringing the total to approximately $450 million by quarter’s end.
The company’s valuation has also surged, climbing from $6.6 billion last September to $11 billion by February.
“Voice represents the most critical channel for customer engagement, demanding exceptional quality, low latency, and robust security. ElevenLabs is not merely a category leader but a cornerstone of Deutsche Telekom’s Industrial AI strategy,” said Karine Peters, Managing Director at T. Capital, Deutsche Telekom’s venture arm. “From voice-as-a-service to multilingual automation and in-network AI agents, we believe ElevenLabs is uniquely positioned to redefine business-customer interactions across all channels.”
Over the last quarter, the voice AI firm secured enterprise agreements with prominent brands such as Deutsche Telekom, Revolut, and Klarna.
ElevenLabs also finalized a $100 million tender offer, marking the second such transaction in six months following one launched last September. In a recent blog post, Staniszewski mentioned plans to offer retail investors the chance to invest in ElevenLabs via Robinhood Ventures, though specific details of the program remain undisclosed.
Staniszewski stressed that consumers will not trust systems that sound robotic or behave unnaturally, highlighting the necessity of developing “human-level AI voice models.” To strengthen its research capabilities, the company recently acquired the team from Polish voice AI startup Papla last month.
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