ElevenLabs, the AI voice startup, reported an annualized revenue run rate of $500 million as of April 2026, up from $350 million at the end of 2025. The $150 million increase in just four months represents a 43% jump, a pace rare in recent SaaS history. Co-founder Mati Staniszewski attributed the surge to enterprise adoption of voice agents reaching "scale deployment."
From Customer Service to Live Translation: Six Use Cases
Staniszewski listed six core scenarios: customer support, sales, recruiting, marketing, advertising, product demos, and real-time translation. He stressed that voice agents are replacing repetitive human dialogue work across languages. Deutsche Telekom, the largest disclosed customer, deployed three AI applications: customer service bots, marketing video production, and an "in-network AI agent" that translates during live calls.
Institutional Investors Signal IPO Readiness
The Series D round brought an unusual quartet: BlackRock, Wellington Management, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders. BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager; Wellington is known for pre-IPO positioning; D.E. Shaw runs quant and alternative strategies; Schroders is a century-old UK fund. CNBC reported in February 2026 that ElevenLabs was preparing for an IPO. The $11 billion valuation, two tender offers totaling over $100 million, and this investor list form a textbook pre-IPO playbook: lock in institutional positions, provide employee liquidity, and stabilize morale.
Hollywood Stars Bet on Voice IP
Notable investor names include Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria, Hwang Dong-hyuk (director of Squid Game), existing backer Matthew McConaughey, and over 30 other actors, musicians, athletes, and entertainment executives. A single voice licensing deal for commercial use could dwarf traditional voiceover contracts. Wellington's Rob Mazzoni stated: "Every large enterprise will communicate with customers and audiences through AI agents."
Future plans include integrating audio with video generation, building a unified agent platform across voice/chat/email, and expanding globally. ElevenLabs is morphing from a voice-only AI firm into a multimodal interaction platform.