This evergreen history article uses authoritative archives and official records. Exact dates are used when documented; gradual inventions and rollouts are described as periods rather than being assigned a misleading single birthday.
Quick facts
- ElevenLabs was founded in 2022 by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski.
- The founders were motivated in part by the poor quality of traditional dubbing and the loss of emotion across languages.
- The company first became widely known for highly realistic text-to-speech and voice-cloning tools.
- It later expanded into dubbing, speech recognition, sound effects, conversational voice agents, music and enterprise audio infrastructure.
- ElevenLabs also became a major example of the safety challenges created by synthetic voices and impersonation.
The dubbing problem behind the company
Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski grew up in Poland and later worked in technology roles in the United Kingdom and United States. They believed that conventional dubbing frequently removed the personality, timing and emotional qualities of the original performer. Their idea was to use neural speech models to preserve expression while allowing content to travel across languages.
ElevenLabs was founded in 2022. The early team concentrated on text-to-speech that sounded less robotic and could reproduce subtle pacing, emphasis and emotion.
The first public voice platform
When the company opened its early product to users, the quality of the generated voices attracted immediate attention. Creators could type text and receive natural-sounding narration, while voice-cloning features made it possible to create a synthetic version of a speaker from recorded audio.
These capabilities were useful for audiobooks, games, accessibility, education, podcasts and video localization. They also created serious abuse risks because a realistic voice could be generated without an audience knowing whether the real person had spoken.
Multilingual speech and dubbing
ElevenLabs developed multilingual speech models and dubbing workflows that could translate content while preserving a speaker’s vocal identity. The platform added tools for separating speakers, timing translated lines and producing localized versions of videos, films and online media.
Low-latency models also made the technology more useful for interactive products. Instead of generating a finished audio file only, developers could build applications that responded in speech during a live conversation.
Beyond text-to-speech
The company expanded from a voice generator into a broader audio research and product organization. Speech-to-text, sound effects, conversational agents, music, voice libraries, licensing systems and enterprise APIs became parts of the platform.
This expansion reflected a larger industry shift: generative AI was moving from isolated text, image or voice tools toward multimodal systems that could understand and produce complete media experiences.
Consent, identity and safety
Voice cloning can improve accessibility and help performers license their voices, but it can also support fraud, political misinformation and harassment. ElevenLabs introduced verification, moderation and policy controls, yet the wider problem cannot be solved by a single company.
Responsible synthetic audio requires consent, traceability, platform enforcement and public awareness. Listeners increasingly need to treat a realistic recording as evidence that must be verified rather than automatically trusted.
ElevenLabs in 2026
By 2026, ElevenLabs described itself as an AI research and product company operating well beyond voice. Its platforms served creators, developers and large organizations, while new funding supported research across speech, sound and conversation.
The company’s history illustrates how quickly one breakthrough interface—natural synthetic speech—can become the foundation of an entire communications platform.
Timeline
| Year | Location | Event | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | London, United Kingdom | ElevenLabs is founded | Created a company focused on human-like synthetic speech and better dubbing. |
| January 2023 | Online global beta | The first public voice platform gains attention | Made realistic neural narration and cloning widely accessible. |
| 2023 | Global | Multilingual speech and dubbing products expand | Helped creators localize content while preserving vocal character. |
| 2024 | Global developer ecosystem | Low-latency models, sound effects and conversational tools grow | Moved the platform toward interactive applications. |
| 2025 | Global | Agents, licensing and wider audio products expand | Turned ElevenLabs into a broader generative-audio company. |
| 2026 | United Kingdom and global markets | Enterprise and research operations continue scaling | Extended the platform across voice, speech, sound, music and conversation. |
Frequently asked questions
Who founded ElevenLabs?
Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski co-founded ElevenLabs in 2022.
What was ElevenLabs originally known for?
It became famous for natural text-to-speech and voice-cloning technology.
Can ElevenLabs translate a voice into another language?
Its dubbing and multilingual tools can translate speech while attempting to preserve the original speaker’s vocal identity and expression.
What is the biggest concern around AI voice cloning?
The central concern is unauthorized impersonation, including scams, misinformation and the use of a person’s voice without consent.