ElevenLabs Lands NVIDIA Investment

AI voice technology startup ElevenLabs has secured strategic investment from AI chip maker NVIDIA.

Why it matters:

• Though best known for its text-to-speech and audio synthesis work, ElevenLabs launched Eleven Music in August, rivaling Suno and Udio in the AI music creation space.

• Unlike its competitors, Eleven Music has entered licensing agreements with Merlin Network and Kobalt Music Group, giving artists and songwriters represented by these companies the ability to opt-in to have their works legally used for AI training and music generation.

The main players:

• NVIDIA is the world’s preeminent producer of AI chips.

• As per Music Business Worldwide, it is currently worth around $4.4 trillion.

• ElevenLabs was founded in 2022 by Piotr Dabkowski and Mati Staniszewski.

• As per Digitial Music News, the company is currently valued at $6.6 billion following a recent employee share tender.

What they said:

• Mati Staniszewski: “We’re excited to share that NVIDIA is investing in ElevenLabs, with Jensen Huang’s support. Last week’s US state visit to the UK strengthened AI partnerships between the two countries and brought major new investments from American companies into the UK tech ecosystem. With our company’s roots growing deeper in both places, we couldn’t be more optimistic about the road ahead.”