Summary
In a brief interview recorded at London Tech Week 2026, ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski argues that the energy in London’s AI ecosystem has never been stronger — and that his company’s trajectory proves globally competitive AI businesses can be built and scaled from the UK without relocating to Silicon Valley. ElevenLabs, now valued at over $11 billion USD, was founded by two co-founders who studied in the UK and built its early team in London.
Staniszewski points to several concrete ecosystem shifts over the past 12 months: a growing appetite among founders to take big risks on ambitious projects, large UK enterprises in travel, logistics, and delivery now actively purchasing from early-stage AI companies, and a meaningful reverse brain drain of senior global talent returning to London. ElevenLabs itself is scaling toward 100 UK employees. Morphic Labs is cited as another example of a strong recent European AI origin story.
On investor pressure to move to San Francisco, Staniszewski says US backers are aligned with the European strategy, partly because the European base gives ElevenLabs a hiring edge — attracting engineers who want to be core contributors at a globally leading company, not peripheral hires. The company counts Meta among its largest US customers while maintaining the majority of its team across Europe. The interview is a concise snapshot of how London’s AI startup scene has matured and what signals suggest the momentum is durable.
📺 Source: Bloomberg Technology · Published June 13, 2026
🏷️ Format: Interview
