ElevenLabs, the voice-cloning artificial intelligence startup, is allowing employees to sell shares at a valuation of $6.6 billion—double the company’s previous valuation—according to Bloomberg News. The tender offer highlights the growing trend among AI startups to provide liquidity to staff amid fierce competition for top engineering and research talent.
The company previously raised $180 million in January, which valued ElevenLabs at $3.3 billion. The new transaction will allow employees who have been with the company for at least a year to sell up to $100 million in stock, giving them a chance to realize gains while also enabling existing and new investors to increase their stakes in the company.
Leading the deal are existing investors Sequoia Capital and Iconiq Growth, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and other venture firms, Bloomberg reported. The move comes as AI startups increasingly adopt stock sales as a retention and recruitment tool in the highly competitive talent market.
Bloomberg cited ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski, who noted that the company has grown its workforce from 77 employees a year ago to 331 today. Staniszewski also shared key financial metrics, saying that ElevenLabs had $100 million in annualized recurring revenue (ARR) in late October 2024 and had doubled that figure to $200 million within ten months. The company aims to reach $300 million in ARR by the end of the year.
Founded by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dabkowski—who previously worked at Palantir Technologies and Google, respectively—ElevenLabs has emerged as a leading player in the voice-cloning AI sector. The company’s growth and employee liquidity program underscore its ambition to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market while providing financial upside to early staff.
Bloomberg also noted that OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is exploring a similar stock sale for employees, which could value that company at roughly $500 billion. ElevenLabs’ move reflects a broader trend in the AI startup ecosystem, where employee-focused liquidity programs and rapid revenue growth are becoming increasingly common as investors and founders seek to retain top talent while scaling high-demand technologies.
Pump Radar
Stock Alerts