ElevenLabs' valuation doubles to $22 billion on surging AI voice-agent demand

Sept 30 (Reuters) - ElevenLabs said on Wednesday it had completed a $300 million employee tender offer valuing the AI voice generation startup at $22 billion, twice the valuation it secured in its February funding round.

The tender was led by Wellington and T. Rowe Price, with participation from existing backers such as Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed, and new investors including EQT and Goldman Sachs.

Unlike a conventional fundraising round, a tender offer allows employees and existing shareholders to sell their stocks to investors, providing liquidity without necessarily raising new capital.

Some of the biggest AI investments have gone to developers of AI agents, as businesses increasingly adopt the technology to automate customer service and routine back-office tasks.

The growing adoption has also drawn major technology companies into the market, with Meta Platforms expanding its personal AI agent Muse to small businesses.

Founded in 2022 by Piotr Dabkowski and CEO Mati Staniszewski, London-based ElevenLabs develops AI voice tools, including technology that converts text into speech.

ElevenLabs said its agents now handle more than 15 million conversations each week, three times the level in February, performing tasks such as processing refunds, renewing insurance policies and booking appointments.

"We're already seeing rapid adoption of expressive voice agents by enterprises and governments, who are deploying them in service of consumers and citizens," co-founder and CEO Mati Staniszewski said.

Its models can speak, listen and translate in more than 90 languages used by over 5.5 billion people, according to the company.

The company was valued at $11 billion after raising $500 million in a Series D funding round in February.

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)