Hey Gen Z and millennials! If you’re deep into the world of AI startups, voice cloning technology, and young founders shaking up big tech, this story is pure fire. Mati Staniszewski, the co-founder and CEO of ElevenLabs, just snagged the prestigious Forbes Daily Cover spot in December 2025. This is huge because he’s a Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe alumni from 2024 and now, at only 30, he’s officially a billionaire thanks to his insane work in AI voice synthesis. From startup dreams to battling OpenAI? Let’s dive in.
The Humble Origins: Fixing Bad Movie Dubs in Poland
Every epic AI startup has a relatable origin story, right? For ElevenLabs, it started with something super Polish: hating terrible movie dubbing. In Poland, films get a single “lektor” voiceover, one guy reading all lines in a flat, boring monotone. It kills the vibe when watching stars like Scarlett Johansson or Leonardo DiCaprio.
Childhood friends Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski (both 30, both Polish) couldn’t stand it. While Mati was at Palantir and Piotr at Google, they tinkered with AI as a side project. Their idea? Build an AI public speaking coach that could create emotional, realistic voices way better than robotic Siri or Alexa.
By 2022, they quit their jobs, pooled savings, and went all-in on ElevenLabs. Named after their love for the number 11 (math nerd alert!), this London- and Warsaw-based startup was born to revolutionize text-to-speech AI and multilingual dubbing.
Also in Explained | Google’s AI Glasses Are Coming in 2026: Everything You Need to Know
The Breakthrough: Hyper-Realistic Voices That Blew Up
In January 2023, ElevenLabs launched their first model. It could turn any text into speech with cloned voices, sounding happy, excited, even laughing. Creators exploded with it: Instant audiobooks for authors, multilingual dubs for YouTubers (now supporting 29 languages), and tools for podcasts, gaming, and apps.
Big media like HarperCollins and Bertelsmann jumped on board. Investors loved it too, Andreessen Horowitz led rounds, and total funding hit over $300 million. By October 2025, valuation soared to $6.6 billion, making it one of Europe’s top AI startups. Both founders? Worth over $1 billion each, per Forbes.
What sets their synthetic voice generation apart? It’s the best out there. Benchmarks show they beat OpenAI with half the errors. Largest voice library (10,000+ options, including A-listers like Michael Caine). Epic collabs? Voicing Darth Vader in Fortnite with official approval.
The Money Game: Profitable in a Cash-Burning AI World
Here’s what’s wild for a four-year-old company: $193 million in trailing 12-month revenue, with $116 million profit (60% margins!). Half from enterprises like Cisco, Twilio, and Adecco using it for customer service or interviews. The other half from creators who’ve been hooked since day one.
In an era where most AI companies burn billions, ElevenLabs is actually making money. Their secret? Obsessive focus on one niche, smart resource use (no endless compute splurging), and a lean team of 300.
The Dark Side: Deepfakes, Misuse, and Ethical Challenges
Voice cloning AI is a double-edged sword, a blessing for creators, but a curse for society. Early days saw viral misuse: Fake celeb voices reading crazy stuff, scams impersonating family, even a Joe Biden robocall discouraging votes in 2024 primaries.
ElevenLabs stepped up fast: Banned lists for politicians/celebs, seven human moderators + AI checks, mandatory consent for clones, and a free deepfake detector. They settled a lawsuit over alleged data scraping too. As deepfake audio risks grow, their ethical moves are setting standards in AI ethics.
Future Plans: Beyond Voices to Full AI Audio Empire
ElevenLabs isn’t chilling. They launched an AI music generator for royalty-free tracks in August 2025. Coming next year: AI avatars for video creation. Big vision? A platform hub for voice agents, deploying all AI audio tools seamlessly.
They’re investing heavy $50 million in an Oregon data center for GPU scale. Founders aim for an $11 billion valuation (because 11, duh). Long-term dream? Translate and dub entire movies in one click, closing the loop on that Polish dubbing frustration.
Why This Matters for Young Hustlers Like Us
Two high school buddies from Poland, no fancy titles, bootstrapped with savings, now billionaires disrupting voice AI technology. They out-innovated giants by being clever, not rich. Proof that focus + passion can build unicorns.
In the booming AI voice technology market, ElevenLabs leads in synthetic speech, voice cloning tools, and ethical innovation. But with OpenAI, Google, and others chasing, the race is on.
Squad, is AI voice cloning the ultimate creator tool or a deepfake nightmare waiting to explode? Will ElevenLabs hit that $11B mark? Sound off in the comments!
Stay locked to YoungThare.com for more tech updates, AI startup news, and stories of Gen Z innovators dominating.
Also in Explained | Is Google’s Gemini 3 About to Dethrone ChatGPT? The AI Arms Race Heats Up in 2025
