A16z-backed voice AI firm ElevenLabs plans IPO within 5 years

London-based AI voice generation startup ElevenLabs aims to be IPO-ready within five years, according to CEO and co-founder Mati Staniszewski.

The company is expanding globally, eyeing new hubs in Paris, Singapore, Brazil, and Mexico.

Founded in 2022 by Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski, ElevenLabs focuses on synthetic voice generation and competes with players like Speechmatics and Hume AI.

Its technology serves consumer voice assistants, corporate integrations, and sectors like healthcare.

Staniszewski said the IPO listing location will depend on its user base, though London is being considered.

However, he acknowledged challenges for high-growth tech companies in the city, referencing Deliveroo’s struggles.

ElevenLabs is valued at US$3.3 billion after a US$180 million funding round backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, ICONIQ Growth, Salesforce, and Deutsche Telekom.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Technical differentiation is critical in the competitive AI voice market

ElevenLabs is competing in a sector where performance metrics directly impact market position and valuation.

The company’s AI voices achieve higher naturalness (89.60%) and pronunciation accuracy (87.13%) than competitors like Hume AI (78.50% and 80% respectively), giving them a technical edge in quality-sensitive applications1.

With over 200 expressive voices across 30+ languages, ElevenLabs’ library breadth supports their global expansion strategy to regions like Asia and Latin America2.

This technical superiority is reflected in practical performance metrics. ElevenLabs offers significantly lower latency (75ms) than competitors like Hume AI (900-2000ms), making it better suited for real-time applications1.

The company’s focus on higher quality voice synthesis aligns with their three-segment business model spanning consumer, corporate, and industry-specific applications mentioned in the article.