ElevenLabs passes $500M ARR and adds BlackRock, NVIDIA and others as investors

Background

Annual recurring revenue, or ARR, expresses a subscription business's revenue as if its current run rate continued for a full year. It is a snapshot rather than an audited annual figure, but it is widely used to compare the scale and growth of software and AI companies, because it strips out one-off payments and shows the revenue a business can expect to renew. ElevenLabs ended 2025 at $350 million in ARR ^[1].

What happened

On 5 May 2026 the company announced that it had crossed $500 million in ARR, a level it reached within the first four months of 2026 ^[1]. The same announcement marked the third close of its Series D fundraise ^[1]. Late-stage private rounds are often closed in stages: a company holds a first close with committed lead investors, then admits additional backers in later closes while the round stays open.

Who invested

The new investors covered several kinds of capital. BlackRock and Wellington joined as institutional asset managers; NVIDIA took part through its investment arm NVentures; and Santander also invested ^[1]. Two figures from entertainment, Jamie Foxx and Eva Longoria, joined as investors as well ^[1]. A chip company, a bank, two large asset managers and individual public figures appearing on the same list reflects how widely the investor base around AI has spread.

Where the growth came from

ElevenLabs attributed the increase to enterprises deploying voice agents in customer support, sales, hiring and marketing operations ^[1]. Those are four areas where an organisation handles a large volume of repetitive spoken or written exchanges, with customers and with job candidates. The company framed the round as backing a platform that redefines how businesses communicate with their audiences ^[1].

What the numbers show

Going from $350 million in ARR at the end of 2025 to more than $500 million within the first four months of 2026 means the company added roughly $150 million in annualised recurring revenue in that window ^[1]. Because ARR counts contracted recurring revenue rather than one-off sales, a change of that size points to new recurring business being signed at a high rate, whether from new customers, from existing customers buying more, or both.

For a private company, a disclosed ARR figure is one of the few public markers of scale, and the mix of investors named alongside this one — asset managers, a chip company, a bank and two entertainment figures — shows that voice agents are being watched well beyond the software industry.