London/New York-based voice AI startup, ElevenLabs, has secured an impressive $19 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from industry leaders and renowned angel investors. This significant investment is set to accelerate the company's voice AI research projects and drive the deployment of innovative products.
With an estimated valuation of approximately $100 million, ElevenLabs is making waves in the voice AI space. In conjunction with the funding announcement, the company is introducing a groundbreaking service that allows users to create entire audiobooks within minutes using its platform. This new offering, along with an AI speech detection model, showcases the company's commitment to revolutionizing the audio content creation process.
The impressive lineup of investors backing ElevenLabs includes former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, former Head of AI at Y Combinator Daniel Gross, and a range of angel investors such as Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger and Oculus VR co-founder Brendan Iribe. Storytel, one of the world's largest audiobook publishers, and content creator platform TheSoul Publishing are also among the supporters of this exciting venture.
Founded by ex-Google machine learning engineer Piotr Karwatka and ex-Palantir deployment strategist Mati Staniszewski in 2022, ElevenLabs has quickly emerged as a leader in generating lifelike synthetic voices. Their technology empowers various creative industries and sectors, enabling authors to create audiobooks, developers to voice characters in video games, and visually impaired individuals to access online written content. The company's ambition is to make content universally accessible in any language and any voice, removing barriers and fostering inclusivity.
While ElevenLabs has faced challenges regarding voice cloning misuse, the company remains committed to implementing additional safeguards to ensure responsible and ethical use of their technology. Through collaboration with the Twitter community and exploring ideas such as account verifications and copyright verification, ElevenLabs is determined to protect the integrity of its platform.
As ElevenLabs continues its journey with the support of prestigious investors and an ever-growing team, the company is poised to redefine storytelling, dissolve language barriers, and usher in a new era of audio content creation. By bridging the gap between AI-generated voices and real human voices, ElevenLabs is revolutionizing the way we experience and engage with audio content.
In a world where accessibility and inclusivity are paramount, ElevenLabs' vision of making content universally accessible in any language and any voice is becoming a reality. With their groundbreaking technology and unwavering commitment to responsible use, ElevenLabs is shaping the future of voice AI and revolutionizing the world of audio content creation.
