Picture of ElevenLabs’ Mati Staniszewski

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May 9, 2025

ElevenLabs’ Mati Staniszewski: 'The pressure is increasing'

The founder of the Sequoia-backed AI unicorn says competition in text-to-voice is heating up

Mimi Billing

5 min read

AI voice startup ElevenLabs has had a hectic start to 2025. Since announcing its $180m Series C at a $3bn valuation in January, the company has launched its own speech-to-text model, opened an office in Japan, secured a deal with Spotify to offer audiobooks on its platform and seen a growing number of competitors entering the market.

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Picture of ElevenLabs’ Mati Staniszewski
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Mimi Billing

Mimi Billing is Sifted's Europe editor, based in Stockholm. She covers the Nordics and can be found on X and LinkedIn

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