ElevenLabs Isn’t Just Entering India — It Wants to Build Voice AI Here

ElevenLabs is preparing one of its biggest geographic bets yet, with the $22 billion voice-AI company planning to invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” in India as it expands teams, develops local-language models and explores potential acquisitions.

Cofounder Mati Staniszewski told Reuters that the London-based company sees India as a major long-term market, although it has not disclosed the exact size or timeline of the investment. The planned spending will go toward hiring locally, developing AI models and improving support for Indian languages.

India is already becoming a significant operating market for ElevenLabs. The company says it has worked with around 250 enterprises in the region, while its AI agents handle roughly 100 million conversations annually across 14 Indian languages. Customers include PhysicsWallah, Havells and Razorpay.

The expansion could eventually extend beyond organic growth. Staniszewski said ElevenLabs is open to acquisitions in India, although no potential targets were disclosed. That comes shortly after the company’s valuation doubled to $22 billion in September, giving it substantial financial firepower as competition across generative voice and AI agents intensifies.

ElevenLabs is also moving into public-sector applications. It plans to work with the Karnataka government on voice-powered citizen services and voice-restoration technology for people who have lost the ability to speak. The broader focus includes making AI systems work more effectively across India’s linguistic diversity.

For ElevenLabs, India is therefore becoming more than another market for selling AI software. With local model development, multilingual adoption, enterprise customers and possible acquisitions all in play, the company appears to be treating the country as a place where its next generation of voice technology could be built as well as deployed.