ElevenLabs CEO Says Starting IPO Preparation in 2028 Is a Good Goal

The comments are the clearest timing Staniszewski has given so far. He has spoken about a listing several times this year without committing to a date. In a TechCrunch interview published on 24 September, he declined to confirm reports of a 2028 IPO. "We are preparing the foundation to be able to do it in the next years," he said, adding that "whether we do it will depend on the time and place." In October he told CNBC-TV18 that "by 2028, I think we should hopefully have the foundation ready", according to Storyboard18.

Valuation Has Doubled This Year

ElevenLabs closed a $500 million Series D round in February, led by Sequoia Capital, at a post-money valuation of $11 billion. Storyboard18 reported that a later $300 million employee tender offer, led by Wellington and T. Rowe Price, valued the company at $22 billion. TechCrunch reported in September that the company was on pace for $600 million in annual recurring revenue. Staniszewski told the publication that more than 55% of that comes from enterprise customers.

The company, best known for text-to-speech, is moving towards AI agents that handle customer interactions such as processing refunds, renewing insurance policies and booking appointments. According to Storyboard18, its agents now handle more than 15 million conversations a week, three times the level in February, and its models cover more than 90 languages.

Why It Matters

ElevenLabs is one of the most valuable AI application companies outside the large model developers. An IPO would test whether public investors will pay for AI agent businesses that sit on top of foundation models. The timeline it is discussing comes as investors in Anthropic's planned listing push back on valuation. That suggests the window for AI listings will depend heavily on market conditions over the next two years, a point Staniszewski himself has made.