ElevenLabs raises $300M employee tender at $22B valuation

ElevenLabs, a four-year-old AI voice startup, announced a $300 million employee tender offer at a $22 billion valuation, doubling its prior $11 billion valuation from a February 2026 funding round. The offering allows employees to sell a portion of their vested equity to investors. The tender was co-led by Wellington Management and T. Rowe Price, two institutional investors that typically retain shares through a company’s eventual public listing. This marks the second time ElevenLabs has authorized a secondary transaction for employees; the company previously held a $100 million tender at a $6.6 billion valuation in September 2025. The startup, founded in 2022 and headquartered in New York and London, is known for generating ultra-realistic human voices and sound effects. With the new valuation, ElevenLabs joins the ranks of Europe’s most valuable startups. The trend reflects a broader shift among fast-growing AI companies toward using employee liquidity as a retention tool to prevent staff from leaving for competitors.