Eleven Labs, a startup specializing in synthetic voice technology, has successfully secured $250 million in Series C funding, pushing its valuation to between $3 billion and $3.3 billion. This round was led by ICONIQ Growth, with participation from early investor Andreessen Horowitz, which previously spearheaded an $80 million Series B funding round for Eleven Labs in January 2024.
Eleven Labs offers a cloud-based AI platform that generates synthetic voices for various applications, including dubbing. The company boasts a library of over 1,000 voices categorized into types such as "confident," "narrative," and "expressive." These voices can be used not only for dubbing but also for audiobooks, movie and TV show narration, among other purposes.
Beyond expanding its voice library, Eleven Labs also features voice cloning capabilities. Users need only upload a brief audio sample of the target voice, and the platform can replicate it, enabling it to articulate any content the user desires. According to the company, just one minute of audio is sufficient to create a basic voice clone, while thirty minutes of audio can produce a professional replica indistinguishable from the original speaker.
A key feature of the voice cloning function is its ability to bypass language barriers. The technology can translate cloned voices into over twenty languages while replicating regional accents. This means the same cloned voice can be used across multiple films in various languages. Additionally, the system preserves the original speaking style and tone. Users have tools to fine-tune the cloned voices, such as adjusting the speech style and clarity.
The platform's impressive performance has drawn significant attention. Earlier this month, Eleven Labs translated an interview by American blogger Lex Friedman with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into English and Russian, maintaining Zelenskyy's authentic voice, tone, emotion, and speaking style.
However, the company has also faced criticism. Last week, the daughter of late French actor Alain Dorval criticized Eleven Labs for broadcasting content featuring a cloned version of her father's voice. Dorval, who passed away in February 2024, provided French dubbing for actors like Sylvester Stallone in films such as "First Blood" and "Rocky." Eleven Labs recently announced that they had recreated Dorval's voice, intending to use it in the upcoming action film "Armor." However, Dorval's daughter, Aurore Bergé, France's Minister for Gender Equality, accused the company of violating an agreement that restricted the use of the voice to "experimental" purposes only.
Bergé posted on social media: "I agreed to conduct experiments. Only experiments. The agreement strictly guaranteed that my mother and I would have final approval before any use or release. Nothing could be done without our consent. I discovered on social media that this commitment was not honored. I never approved this broadcast. My father would never have agreed to such a broadcast."
In response, Eleven Labs stated that the project for the film "Armor," set to premiere in March 2025, is still ongoing, and emphasized that Dorval's family retains full control over his voice, with final say on whether it will be used in the film's final version.
Eleven Labs makes its technology accessible through an application programming interface available at different pricing tiers. Its clients include text-to-video startups like Synthesia Ltd., publishers such as The Washington Post, HarperCollins, and Bertelsmann Group, as well as several video game developers.
Competitors in the space include startups like Deepdub Ltd., alongside industry giants like OpenAI and Google.
