i
News
All Research News
News · 2026-10-01

ElevenLabs reaches a $22 billion valuation in employee share sale

@neuronium_ai @neuronium_ai

ElevenLabs has more than tripled its valuation to $22 billion in a new employee share sale, giving staff a way to cash out before the company goes public. For the four-year-old voice AI startup, it is the second such deal: in September 2025, it ran a $100 million tender offer at a $6.6 billion valuation. The transaction also puts the New York- and London-based company among Europe’s most valuable startups.

Cover: ElevenLabs reaches a $22 billion valuation in employee share sale

A retention tool, not an IPO

Pre-IPO share sales are becoming a way for fast-growing AI startups to retain employees who might otherwise leave for competitors. They offer staff liquidity without requiring the company to go public.

ElevenLabs, founded in 2022, is known for generating realistic human voices and sound effects. Its latest transaction comes after a sharp rise from the $6.6 billion valuation attached to its 2025 tender offer.

Source: techcrunch.com

What the announcement leaves out

Last week, TechCrunch spoke with ElevenLabs co-founder and CEO Mati Staniszewski. The available details do not say how much the new offer is worth, how many employees can take part, or what portion of their shares they can sell.

I think the valuation is the headline, but the unanswered question is whether employees are getting meaningfully more liquidity than they did in 2025. A higher price can make a tender offer more valuable; without its size and terms, it is hard to judge how much of a retention tool this one is.

Source

Daily AI news

Every day we pick what actually matters in AI and explain it plainly — no hype, no filler. Subscribe if you want to follow where the industry is going.

Only what matters — every day

Follow on X