ElevenLabs is in discussions regarding a tender offer that values the company at $22 billion, essentially 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 discussions. ElevenLabs is in initial talks with investors regarding an employee tender offer that would value the startup at approximately $22 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. This valuation would represent roughly a twofold increase from the company's $11 billion valuation achieved five months ago after closing a $500 million Series D round led by Sequoia Capital.

      These discussions are described as early-stage, and the terms may still be subject to change. The tender offer would allow ElevenLabs employees to sell their shares to external investors, a practice that has become increasingly common among AI startups striving to retain talent without needing to go public.

      The tender offer is anticipated to occur by September, following a familiar trend. ElevenLabs conducted its first employee share sale in September 2025 at a valuation of $6.6 billion, which itself was more than double the $3.3 billion valuation established during its Series C round in January 2025. If the new offer is priced as reported, the company's valuation will have surged from $3.3 billion to about $22 billion in approximately eighteen months, significantly outpacing many competitors in the AI sector.

      Founded in 2022 by Piotr Dabkowski and CEO Mati Staniszewski, the London-based company develops tools that convert text to speech and clone voices for dubbing, audiobooks, and conversational agents. Participating investors in the February round included BlackRock, Nvidia, a16z, and Iconiq Growth, with TechCrunch reporting that the company ended 2025 with around $330 million in annual recurring revenue.

      Staniszewski mentioned that the company took five months to grow its annual recurring revenue from $200 million to $300 million, a acceleration that has kept investors interested. The voice AI sector has attracted significant investment and fierce competition, with rival Deepgram raising $130 million at a $1.3 billion valuation in January, while Google has been solidifying its cloud partnership with ElevenLabs and recruiting talent from smaller voice labs.

      ElevenLabs has also garnered government interest beyond its investor base, including a memorandum of understanding with the UK government related to public service accessibility and AI safety research, as well as an $11 million investment from Poland's state investment fund last month.

      The choice of a tender offer over another primary round appears to be primarily mechanical. A secondary sale provides liquidity to existing shareholders, mainly employees, rather than injecting new capital into the balance sheet. It allows a private company to establish a new valuation marker without the dilution or disclosure requirements that come with raising new equity. In a climate where AI researchers and engineers can quickly switch jobs for better compensation, it serves also as a retention strategy dressed as a financing move, enabling ElevenLabs to assign a monetary value to its staff while a public listing remains unproven.

      However, the reporting leaves some tough questions unanswered. Bloomberg's sources did not specify which investors might participate in the secondary sale, the amount of stock employees could sell, or the revenue that supports the new valuation.

      A tender offer establishes a current valuation without the disclosure demands of a primary funding round, meaning that if the $22 billion figure holds, it will likely come under considerably less scrutiny than one might expect. What is evident is the clear upward trajectory. ElevenLabs has raised its valuation three times within two years, each time more rapidly than the last and each time via a method that benefits staff without affecting existing shareholders.

      Staniszewski stated in March that the company aims to prepare for an IPO within two to three years, and a valuation as substantial as this, even in its preliminary stages, intensifies pressure to meet that timeline. Whether the $22 billion valuation will hold by September depends on unnamed investors supporting an unfinalized valuation for a company that has shown no signs of slowing down.