ElevenLabs is in discussions for a tender offer that would value the company at $22 billion, effectively doubling its valuation from February.

      The voice AI startup is reportedly considering a staff share sale that could nearly double its valuation from the funding round in February, according to sources familiar with the matter. ElevenLabs is in preliminary discussions with investors about an employee tender offer, which is expected to value the startup at around $22 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. This amount would effectively double the $11 billion valuation the company achieved five months back when it completed a $500 million Series D led by Sequoia Capital.

      These talks are described as initial, and terms could still shift. A tender offer would allow ElevenLabs employees to sell shares to external investors, a strategy that has become more prevalent among AI startups aiming to retain talent without pursuing a complete public listing. The tender is anticipated to occur by September, following a familiar pattern. ElevenLabs conducted its first staff share sale in September 2025 at a valuation of $6.6 billion, more than twice the $3.3 billion valuation from its Series C round in January 2025.

      If the new offer is priced as reported, the company would have escalated from $3.3 billion to approximately $22 billion in about eighteen months, a trajectory that exceeds that of most competitors in the AI sector. Founded in 2022 by Piotr Dabkowski and CEO Mati Staniszewski, the London-based company creates tools that convert text into speech and replicate voices for dubbing, audiobooks, and conversational agents.

      Investors in the February funding round included BlackRock, Nvidia, a16z, and Iconiq Growth. TechCrunch’s report on that funding noted that the company ended 2025 with around $330 million in annual recurring revenue. Staniszewski mentioned that it took five months for the company to increase its annual recurring revenue from $200 million to $300 million, a pace that has attracted investor interest.

      The voice AI space has seen significant investment and stiff competition. The competitor Deepgram secured $130 million at a $1.3 billion valuation in January, while Google has been bolstering its cloud partnership with ElevenLabs while also hiring talent from smaller voice labs.

      Additionally, ElevenLabs has garnered attention from government entities beyond its investor network, including a memorandum of understanding with the UK government focusing on public service accessibility and AI safety research, and an $11 million investment from Poland’s state investment fund last month.

      Opting for a tender offer instead of a new primary funding round is largely a mechanical decision. A secondary sale provides liquidity to existing shareholders, primarily staff, without adding new capital to the balance sheet. It also allows a private company to establish an updated valuation marker without the dilution or disclosure demands associated with raising fresh equity. In a market where AI researchers and engineers can quickly switch employers for better offers, this also serves as a retention strategy disguised as a financing event, enabling ElevenLabs to assign a paper valuation to staff while still holding off on a public listing.

      Nevertheless, some challenging questions remain unaddressed by the reporting. Bloomberg’s sources did not specify which investors might participate in the secondary sale, how much stock employees could sell, or what financial performance supports the new valuation. A tender offer allows for a new valuation stamp without the disclosure requirements of a primary funding round, suggesting that the $22 billion figure, if it stands, will be scrutinized less intensely than its implications might suggest.

      What is apparent is the company’s upward trajectory. ElevenLabs has now increased its valuation three times in less than two years, each instance occurring faster than the previous one, and each time through a method that rewards staff without diluting existing shareholders. Staniszewski indicated in March that the company aims to be ready for an IPO within two to three years, and achieving such a high valuation, regardless of its preliminary status, heightens the pressure to adhere to that timeline.

      Whether the $22 billion valuation remains by September relies on unnamed investors endorsing a figure that has yet to be confirmed, all for a company that shows no signs of slowing down.