AI voice start-up Elevenlabs shifts to Australia

March 6, 2026 11:26

Michael Costa has quietly been appointed as ElevenLabs lead for ANZ

Rising AI audio start-up Elevenlabs has quietly expanded into Australia, appointing former Conversant Media executive Michael Costa as its local lead.

The London-based AI voice-generator has named Costa its go-to-market director for Australia and New Zealand, according to his updated Linkedin profile.

The company uses artificial intelligence to create synthetic voices for podcasts, audiobooks, video games and other media, with a focus on creating natural-sounding speech.

The move comes as Elevenlabs enters funding talks that could double its valuation to US$11 billion (A$15.7b) within months, potentially making it the UK’s most valuable start-up.

Costa left Conversant Media in 2018 to join Salesforce in Sydney, before relocating to the UK with the tech giant in 2020. Since then, he has held roles at Twilio and Mixpanel in London, joining ElevenLabs last month.

According to his Linkedin profile, he is still based in the UK. The company does not yet appear to be registered with ASIC.

Founded in London in 2022, Elevenlabs has backing from venture capital investors including Sequoia, Iconiq and Andreessen Horowitz. It now has headquarters in London and New York, as well as offices in Warsaw, Bengaluru and Tokyo.