ElevenLabs: BlackRock and Jamie Foxx Invest $500 Million

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Key Takeaways

1ElevenLabs raised $500 million in its Series D, with investors like BlackRock and Jamie Foxx.

2The startup achieved an annual recurring revenue of $500 million, up from $350 million the previous year.

3ElevenLabs' valuation surged from $6.6 billion to $11 billion between September and February.

💡Why it matters — The involvement of major names and institutions strengthens ElevenLabs' position in the Voice AI sector, accelerating its expansion and influence.

ElevenLabs Attracts Prestigious Investors

The voice AI company, ElevenLabs, recently announced an impressive fundraising round of $500 million in its Series D. Among the new investors are heavyweights such as BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders. Renowned companies like NVIDIA, Salesforce, Santander, KPN, and Deutsche Telekom have also joined the funding round. Additionally, individual personalities such as Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria, and Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Squid Game, have decided to support the startup.

Rapid Growth and Rising Valuation

ElevenLabs reported surpassing $500 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a significant jump from the $350 million achieved the previous year. Mati Staniszewski, co-founder and CEO of the company, revealed that the firm added $100 million in net ARR in the first quarter of 2026, closing that quarter with approximately $450 million in ARR. The company's valuation has also seen a dramatic increase, rising from $6.6 billion last September to $11 billion in February.

A Key Player in Voice AI

Karine Peters, General Manager of Deutsche Telekom's venture capital arm, T. Capital, emphasized the importance of voice as a critical channel for customer interaction. She stated that ElevenLabs is not only a leader in its field but also a fundamental player in Deutsche Telekom's broader vision for industrial AI. The company is positioning itself to redefine how businesses interact with their customers through voice services, multilingual automation, and networked AI agents.

New Contracts and Acquisitions

In the last quarter, ElevenLabs signed enterprise contracts with giants like Deutsche Telekom, Revolut, and Klarna. In addition to the fundraising, the company closed a $100 million offering, its second in six months, following an initial one in September. Mati Staniszewski also announced that the company would offer retail investors the opportunity to invest through Robinhood Ventures, although details of this program are yet to be clarified.

Towards More Human-Like AI Voice Models

Staniszewski highlighted the importance of creating AI voice models that sound human, stressing that consumers will not trust systems that sound robotic or interact in strange ways. To bolster its research team, ElevenLabs recently acquired the team from the Polish Voice AI startup, Papla.