London-based AI voice specialist ElevenLabs has announced plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in India, its largest market outside the United States. Co-founder Mati Staniszewski revealed the expansion plans, which include growing the local team to 100 members, establishing a Bengaluru office, and expanding language support from 14 to all 22 official Indian languages. ElevenLabs also signed an MoU with the state of Karnataka to deploy Kannada-language voice AI for public services and voice restoration.
Investment and expansion plans in India
- ▪ElevenLabs plans to build a team of close to 100 people in India by the end of 2026, hiring for roles spanning sales, customer success, product, and engineering.
- ▪ElevenLabs is open to making acquisitions in India to support its expansion, though ElevenLabs co-founder Mati Staniszewski declined to disclose specific target names.
- ▪ElevenLabs is finalising a physical office in Bengaluru, India, while maintaining its remote-first operational structure.
- ▪London-based artificial intelligence voice company ElevenLabs plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in India to expand its presence in its largest market outside the United States.
Support for Indian languages
- ▪ElevenLabs currently supports 14 Indian languages on its Eleven V4 text-to-speech model, which was launched during the week prior to October 6, 2026.
- ▪ElevenLabs plans to expand its voice artificial intelligence platform to support all 22 officially recognised Indian languages in the coming months.
Adoption and enterprise customers in India
- ▪ElevenLabs' enterprise customers in India include edtech company Physicswallah, electrical equipment maker Havells, fintech Razorpay, and media platform JioStar.
- ▪Indian businesses recorded 100 million conversations on ElevenLabs' ElevenAgents platform over the year prior to October 2026, with over 70% of those conversations occurring in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu.
- ▪More than 25,000 Indian developers and businesses use the ElevenLabs API each month, representing an approximate 2.5-fold increase over the year prior to October 2026.
Karnataka partnership
- ▪ElevenLabs signed a memorandum of understanding on October 6, 2026, with the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society to deploy Kannada-language voice artificial intelligence for the Karnataka government's skilling, citizen services, and grievance redressal.
- ▪ElevenLabs' partnership with the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society will also cover responsible artificial intelligence and voice restoration.
Voice restoration initiatives
- ▪ElevenLabs committed to restoring 1 million voices globally for individuals who have permanently lost their speaking ability due to medical conditions such as ALS, cerebral palsy, throat cancer, and multiple sclerosis.
- ▪ElevenLabs is partnering with India's Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and local non-profits, including the Organisation for Rare Diseases India, to provide voice restoration technology.
Debatable claims
- ▪Karnataka should deploy voice AI for citizen services and grievance redressal
- ▪The expansion of voice AI in India poses a significant threat to local employment
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