ElevenLabs Clears $500M ARR as BlackRock, Telecoms, and Celebrities Back Its $11B Series D
ElevenLabs reveals its complete $500M Series D investor roster — including BlackRock and Deutsche Telekom — as ARR clears $500 million.
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ElevenLabs has revealed the complete investor roster for its $500 million Series D — the round first disclosed in February — while confirming that annual recurring revenue has cleared the $500 million mark. The combination of Wall Street institutions, global telecoms, and celebrity backers signals that voice AI is graduating from a specialized tool into enterprise-grade infrastructure.
Broad Coalition Spanning Finance, Tech, and Entertainment
The fundraise assembles an unusually wide coalition. On the institutional side, four prominent asset managers — Schroders, D.E. Shaw, Wellington, and BlackRock — lend a traditional-finance credibility rarely seen in AI growth rounds. Corporate strategics span sectors: Deutsche Telekom, KPN, and Santander on the telecom and banking side, with Salesforce Ventures and Nvidia representing technology. Three celebrity investors round out the roster — Hwang Dong-hyuk, the Squid Game creator, alongside actors Jamie Foxx and Eva Longoria — reflecting voice AI’s crossover appeal beyond the developer community.
According to TechCrunch AI, ElevenLabs also closed a $100 million secondary tender, the company’s second such transaction in approximately six months, providing liquidity to existing stakeholders. CEO Mati Staniszewski announced plans to extend retail investment access via Robinhood Ventures, though details remain forthcoming.
Revenue Acceleration Outpaces the Fundraising Narrative
The ARR trajectory is arguably the sharper story. ElevenLabs finished 2025 with revenue approaching $350 million annually, then gained $100 million of incremental ARR across Q1 2026, and has since cleared the $500 million mark. That means the company added more than $150 million in ARR within roughly five months — a rate that suggests demand acceleration, not just market expansion.
Enterprise contracts are driving the gains. Signed agreements with Revolut and Klarna, alongside Deutsche Telekom, illustrate adoption at scale. T.Capital managing director Karine Peters — who leads Deutsche Telekom’s venture arm — described ElevenLabs as “a foundational enabler” of industrial AI, highlighting cross-language automation and AI-native agent deployments as priority use cases.
Valuation Jumps 67% in Under a Year
The company’s valuation measured $6.6 billion last September and reached $11 billion by February’s close — a 67% step-up in under five months — reflecting sustained investor conviction in voice AI as a durable technology category.
Why This Matters
BlackRock’s involvement is the clearest credibility signal: large asset managers rarely participate in speculative growth rounds, and their entry reframes voice AI’s risk profile. For rivals, ElevenLabs’ revenue velocity and enterprise contract depth are the harder benchmarks to match than any valuation headline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ElevenLabs' current annual recurring revenue?
ElevenLabs has surpassed $500 million in ARR, up from approximately $350 million at the end of 2025, after adding $100 million of incremental ARR in Q1 2026 alone.
Who are the notable investors in ElevenLabs' Series D?
The $500 million Series D includes institutional investors such as BlackRock, Schroders, D.E. Shaw, and Wellington; corporate strategics including Deutsche Telekom, Nvidia, and Salesforce Ventures; and celebrity investors Hwang Dong-hyuk (Squid Game creator), Jamie Foxx, and Eva Longoria.