Who Owns ElevenLabs?
From watching terrible movie dubbing in their Warsaw apartment to building a $3.3 billion AI empire in just three years – the ElevenLabs ownership story reads like a Silicon Valley fairy tale. But here's the twist: these weren't your typical Stanford dropouts. Mati and Piotr were two frustrated Polish kids who decided to fix something that annoyed them every Friday night at the cinema.
Short answer: ElevenLabs is owned by Polish co-founders Mati Staniszewski (CEO) and Piotr Dąbkowski (CTO), alongside elite venture capital investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and ICONIQ Growth. The company raised $281 million across four rounds since 2022, with the latest Series C valuing it at $3.3 billion.
Table of Contents:
The Founding Duo That Shocked Silicon Valley
Meet Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski – the Polish masterminds who turned childhood frustration into one of AI's most valuable companies. While their Silicon Valley peers were coding in Stanford dorms, these two were in Warsaw, annoyed by Poland's bizarre movie dubbing tradition where one monotone male voice narrates entire Hollywood blockbusters over the original audio.
Mati brings the business muscle as CEO, sharpened during his time at Palantir where he learned to scale complex technology across global markets. But the real secret weapon is Piotr, the CTO and research genius who was publishing AI papers at top conferences before most people knew what ChatGPT was. His Google engineering background and Cambridge PhD in AI image detection gave ElevenLabs the technical foundation that competitors still struggle to match.
Here's what makes them different: while other AI founders chase the latest trends, Mati and Piotr solved a personal problem they lived with for decades. That authentic motivation shows in everything they build.
Major Investors and Funding Rounds
ElevenLabs attracted the crème de la crème of Silicon Valley investors through four strategic funding rounds that showcase extraordinary growth velocity. Each round brought not just capital, but validation from venture capital firms known for backing generational companies.
| Round | Date | Amount | Valuation | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | Jan 2023 | $2M | ~$10M | Credo Ventures, Concept Ventures |
| Series A | Jun 2023 | $19M | $100M | Andreessen Horowitz |
| Series B | Jan 2024 | $80M | $1.1B | A16z, Sequoia Capital, Nat Friedman |
| Series C | Jan 2025 | $180M | $3.3B | A16z, ICONIQ Growth, NEA |
The funding timeline reveals a company that never had to beg for money. When Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital both fight to lead your Series B, you know you've created something special. The Series C brought strategic investors including Deutsche Telekom, LG Technology Ventures, and HubSpot Ventures – corporate giants betting their future on ElevenLabs technology.
Current Ownership Structure
Image of voicing books using a robot. Source: Canva
ElevenLabs operates as a private company with ownership split between founders, employees, and institutional investors. While exact percentages remain confidential, the founders retain significant control – crucial for a company moving at AI speed in such a competitive space.
The 98-person team (as of December 2024) participates in the success through equity programs, and here's where it gets interesting: in September 2025, ElevenLabs offered employees the chance to sell up to $100 million in stock at a $6.6 billion valuation – double their previous worth. That level of employee liquidity signals both confidence and smart retention strategy in the AI talent wars.
This secondary offering reveals two critical insights: first, the company projects continued explosive growth, and second, early employees are sitting on life-changing wealth. When a startup enables this level of employee cash-out at these valuations, they're making a bold bet on their trajectory.
How ElevenLabs Stacks Against Competitors
While the AI voice space attracts numerous players, few companies command the market position and investor confidence that ElevenLabs has achieved. The competitive landscape reveals why top-tier investors bet big on this particular company.
| Company | Valuation | Founded | Key Investors | Market Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | $3.3B | 2022 | A16z, Sequoia, ICONIQ | Premium voice AI |
| Murf AI | ~$50M | 2020 | Matrix Partners | Business voiceovers |
| Synthesia | $1B+ | 2017 | Accel, FirstMark | AI video creation |
| Speechelo | Private | 2015 | Bootstrapped | Simple TTS tools |
The valuation gap tells a compelling story: ElevenLabs raised more money in three years than most competitors have across their entire existence. While others focus on basic text-to-speech functionality, ElevenLabs built technology that captures emotion, breathing patterns, and subtle human nuances that make listeners forget they're hearing AI-generated content.
The $3.3 Billion Valuation Explosion
From $100 million to $3.3 billion in 18 months – this represents one of the fastest valuation increases in AI history. Behind these numbers lies a company that hit $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by September 2025, making it among the most rapidly scaling AI platforms ever built.
The valuation reflects genuine market traction rather than speculative hype. Fortune 500 companies integrate ElevenLabs technology into their operations, creators have generated over 100 years of audio content on the platform, and the system supports accurate voice generation in 70+ languages. When Spotify partners with you for audiobooks and major publishers adopt your technology, investors pay premium valuations.
What drives this extraordinary value creation? ElevenLabs solved the fundamental voice AI quality problem that plagued the industry for decades. While competitors still produce recognizably synthetic voices, ElevenLabs creates speech so realistic that regulatory concerns about deepfakes became legitimate policy discussions. That technical moat translates directly into market dominance and investor confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the founders still control ElevenLabs?
Yes, Mati and Piotr maintain significant control despite multiple funding rounds. This founder control remains crucial for a company operating at AI speed – they can make decisions quickly without getting bogged down in investor politics or committee processes.
Is ElevenLabs going public soon?
No official IPO timeline exists, but the recent employee liquidity programs suggest preparation for various exit scenarios. With their growth rate and market position, an IPO could materialize within 2-3 years if market conditions align favorably.
Who are ElevenLabs' biggest competitors by ownership value?
Synthesia leads alternative AI platforms with a $1B+ valuation, but focuses on video rather than pure voice technology. The real competitive threat comes from tech giants like Google and OpenAI who possess deeper resources but less specialized focus on voice quality.
Can regular investors buy ElevenLabs stock?
Currently no – access remains limited to employees, venture capital firms, and accredited investors participating in secondary markets. Public investors must wait for a potential IPO or acquisition opportunity.
Who Owns ElevenLabs: Conclusion
ElevenLabs proves that the best startups solve personal problems at global scale. Two Polish friends who hated bad movie dubbing built a $3.3 billion company by creating voices so realistic they changed an entire industry. With elite investors, explosive growth, and technology that actually works, ElevenLabs dominates the AI voice race and defines what victory looks like in this space.
Go Deeper:
Jim's our tech geek with a mission since February 2023. From movies to video projectors, he knows his stuff and aims to make tech work for you. When he's not geeking out, he's there to guide you through making savvy decisions.
