News Summary

ElevenLabs, a leading AI audio startup, has confirmed raising $180 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its valuation to $3.3 billion. The round was co-led by a16z and ICONIQ Growth, with participation from new investors such as NEA, World Innovation Lab, and Abu Dhabi investment firm Lunate, as well as past investors including Sequoia Capital and Salesforce Ventures. The funding will be used to enhance ElevenLabs’ audio tools and expand its business development efforts. The company is focusing on creating more expressive audio AI models and developing omni-models for multimodal interactions. ElevenLabs has partnered with major publishers and tech startups to power voice and audio features across various verticals, including media and gaming. The startup is also working on improving its speech-to-text capabilities and creating AI-powered conversational agents. Despite some challenges related to misinformation, the company is committed to building robust safety mechanisms. ElevenLabs plans to expand its consumer-facing products and enable content creators to utilize its technology for broader distribution.