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ElevenLabs claims to have hit unicorn status thanks to the latest funding round, while A16z continues to focus on AI investments.
Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) has co-led an $80m funding round into ElevenLabs, a start-up developing AI-powered audio tools to create synthetic voices.
The Series B fundraise was also co-led by former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and entrepreneur Daniel Gross. The funding round also included Sequoia Capital, Smash Capital, SV Angel, BroadLight Capital and Credo Ventures.
ElevenLabs says it has reached unicorn status as a result of the latest fundraise, being valued at more than $1bn. A16z also invested in the start-up last year when it raised $19m.
The start-up was founded in 2022 and is focused on “natural speech synthesis”, providing tools so users can create and design AI voices in various languages and accents. ElevenLabs claims its tech is being used by employees at 41pc of Fortune 500 companies.
The company plans to use the new funding to develop several new products, including a “dubbing studio” to let users dub over entire movies and generate transcripts, translations and timecodes.
“Our ambition remains the same – to transform how we interact with content by breaking down language and communication barriers,” said ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski. “We’re building cutting-edge technology to make content accessible across languages – and voices – to enable everyone to connect with information and stories that matter.
“Our progress so far is a testament to our dedicated team and investors, and while it’s still only the beginning of our journey, together we’re helping shape the future of accessibility and communication.”
A16z has been focusing heavily on AI investments over the past year, as interest in the technology continues to grow. Last August, the VC firm co-led a $200m funding round into Genesis Therapeutics, which uses AI to find new drugs for medical diseases.
A few days later, A16z backed Ideogram AI, a text-to-image start-up trying to make its mark in a sector dominated by AI models such as DALL-E and Midjourney.
A16z co-founder Marc Andreessen also spoke out against those raising AI concerns last year and argued that the technology will “save the world”.
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