In the high-stakes world of startup investing, sometimes the biggest wins come from spotting potential where others see nothing. That’s exactly what appears to have happened with voice AI company ElevenLabs, where an early angel investment decision made in under half an hour has reportedly yielded extraordinary returns as the startup’s valuation skyrocketed.
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The 30-Minute Decision
According to recent reports, Carles Reina—then a venture partner at Concept Ventures—made the call to invest in ElevenLabs after just one conversation with co-founder Mati Staniszewski. “We started talking, and within 30 minutes of the first conversation, I told him, ‘How much money do you want?'” Reina recounted in an interview covered by CNBC Make It.
What’s particularly notable about this timing is that ElevenLabs didn’t even have a concrete product when Reina decided to back the company. The investor had previously worked with Staniszewski at Palantir Technologies, suggesting that familiarity with the founder’s capabilities may have influenced the rapid decision-making process.
Voice AI’s Overlooked Potential
Reina’s investment thesis reportedly centered on identifying sectors that other investors were ignoring. “With ElevenLabs no one was looking at voice AI, literally no one wanted to give [them] money,” he explained. This was before ChatGPT’s launch brought widespread attention to AI technologies, when voice applications were largely dismissed as a solved problem.
Major tech companies including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft already had text-to-speech products in the market, but according to industry analysis, these solutions hadn’t gained significant traction. The prevailing assumption seemed to be that the space offered limited innovation opportunities—exactly the kind of market misperception that can create outsized returns for early investors.
Valuation Explosion
The bet on ElevenLabs has proven remarkably prescient. Founded in 2022 by Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski, the company specializes in advanced speech synthesis and voice cloning technology that has since captured significant market interest.
Earlier this year, ElevenLabs completed a Series C funding round that reportedly raised $180 million at a $3.3 billion valuation. Then in September, the company announced it was allowing employees to sell shares at a stunning $6.6 billion valuation—effectively doubling the company’s worth in just months.
This rapid appreciation suggests the market is finally recognizing what early angel investors like Reina saw in voice AI’s potential. The technology has applications ranging from entertainment and gaming to accessibility tools and customer service automation.
Pattern Recognition
Reina’s approach to investing appears systematic rather than merely lucky. With 74 angel investments over eight years—including positions in Revolut, Volumetric, Elroy Air, and Speckle—he’s developed a track record of identifying emerging tech trends before they become mainstream.
“I’ve done mostly AI before it was sexy. I’ve done robotics before it was sexy as well,” he noted in the interview. This pattern of early identification suggests a methodology focused on technological fundamentals rather than market hype cycles.
Interestingly, Reina has since joined ElevenLabs as a go-to-market manager, indicating his continued belief in the company’s potential and his willingness to move from investor to operator when he identifies particularly promising opportunities.
Broader Implications
The ElevenLabs story highlights several important trends in technology investing. First, it demonstrates that significant opportunities still exist in markets that appear dominated by tech giants, particularly when those incumbents have underinvested in innovation.
Second, it suggests that founder relationships and rapid decision-making can provide competitive advantages in fast-moving sectors like artificial intelligence. While most venture capital firms operate with lengthy due diligence processes, the ability to move quickly when identifying exceptional talent and technology appears to have paid substantial dividends in this case.
Finally, the valuation surge at ElevenLabs indicates growing market recognition of voice AI’s commercial potential. As companies continue seeking ways to integrate AI into customer experiences, voice technology represents a natural interface that could see expanded adoption across multiple industries.
The company’s recent employee tender offer at the doubled valuation not only provides liquidity for early team members but also signals strong confidence in the company’s future growth trajectory. For early investors who spotted the opportunity when others looked away, that confidence appears increasingly well-placed.
