Jamie Foxx and Squid Game Creator Join BlackRock in $550M ElevenLabs Series D

ElevenLabs just dropped its full investor roster for the third close of its Series D, and it's a wild mix of Wall Street and Hollywood. BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders lead the institutional pack alongside strategic money from NVIDIA, Salesforce, Santander, KPN, and Deutsche Telekom. Then there's the celebrity angle: Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria, and Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk all cut personal checks. The round started at $500 million in February but has now crossed $550 million total, valuing the Polish-founded, UK-headquartered startup at $11 billion.

The company crossed $500 million annual recurring revenue in just four months of 2026, jumping from $350 million at year-end 2025. That's a 43% revenue spike in one quarter, driven almost entirely by enterprises deploying voice agents for customer support, sales, and internal operations. At this pace, ElevenLabs is on track to hit $1 billion ARR within 18 months, a trajectory that puts it in the same growth league as OpenAI's consumer business. The speed has clearly attracted late-stage capital that typically sits out until revenue curves flatten.

Hwang Dong-hyuk's participation stands out given his day job creating dystopian content about technology gone wrong. His Firstman Studio didn't just invest in ElevenLabs, they're already using the tech for pre-production voice work and multilingual dubbing. Jamie Foxx and Eva Longoria bring similar angles: both have production companies that burn cash on voice talent and dubbing. For them, this isn't charity, it's a hedge against ballooning post-production costs. The entertainment angle also helps ElevenLabs compete with rivals like Murf AI who've been courting studios.

With $550 million in fresh capital and NVIDIA's backing, ElevenLabs just sanded down its biggest weakness: enterprise credibility. Until now, competitors like OpenAI's voice engine and Google's WaveNet could point to deeper technical moats. But BlackRock's stamp of approval plus NVIDIA's hardware integration gives ElevenLabs the enterprise sales muscle to compete head-to-head. The celebrity investors aren't just vanity names, they're distribution channels into creative industries that traditional enterprise AI companies struggle to crack. This positions ElevenLabs uniquely across both Fortune 500 boardrooms and Hollywood production studios.

Expect an IPO filing within 12-18 months. The combination of $500M+ ARR, marquee investors, and clear enterprise traction creates textbook late-stage dynamics. More immediately, watch for deeper NVIDIA integration, possibly including custom silicon for real-time voice synthesis, and aggressive expansion into Asian markets through Hwang's Korean entertainment connections. The company also hinted at a second employee share sale, suggesting current staff want liquidity before the public markets. For competitors, the window to catch up just slammed shut.