ElevenLabs' growth trajectory is massive. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the startup - merging voice technology and AI - added over $100 million in Net New ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue).
More than half of its revenue now comes from enterprise clients (e.g., Deutsche Telekom, MasterClass, Better, Klarna, and Revolut).
As a result, its technology is no longer just a brilliant tool for enthusiasts and creators. Major corporations are successfully utilizing its text-to-speech, sound effects, dubbing, and AI-driven conversational capabilities.
What else can ElevenLabs be used for? We will find out on June 1st in Warsaw during the massive ElevenLabs Summit. Due to the Polish heritage of founders Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski, the event is being called a 'homecoming' or a return to 'the place where it all began.' or a return to "the place where it all began."
ElevenLabs as the Next PayPal?
Can ElevenLabs exert an even stronger influence on the market in the future by creating a robust business ecosystem that extends beyond the company itself? Will its employees form a mutually supportive group connected by new ventures - even outside the parent company?
In other words: Will an "ElevenLabs Mafia" emerge, and will it have a strong Polish contingent?
While it is too early to say for certain, there are powerful foundations suggesting the answer is yes. I intend to demonstrate this in the second part of my independent report on Poles at ElevenLabs.
The term "Mafia" refers to the "PayPal Mafia" - the group formed during the early days of PayPal whose members went on to create other legendary companies while remaining within a network of shared contacts, dependencies, and business ventures.
This group included the likes of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Luke Nosek (born in Poland), Reid Hoffman, Jawed Karim, Jeremy Stoppelman, and David Sacks. This ecosystem gave rise to brands such as Tesla, SpaceX, YouTube, LinkedIn, Yelp, and Palantir.
At PayPal, these innovators - then in their late twenties - learned how to build breakthrough global solutions. They did so in a niche field (payments) but capitalized on a historic technological revolution (the Internet). They gained immense skills and networks, and following the IPO and subsequent $1.5 billion acquisition by eBay in 2002, they secured the capital that allowed them to build or invest in further businesses. Sound familiar?
Missed Part 1?
Read the foundational investigation: how a Polish talent network built an $11 billion AI decacorn.
Read Part 1: The ElevenLabs DNAThe Seeds of the "ElevenLabs Mafia"
Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski - the founders of ElevenLabs - are barely in their thirties and have already built a business valued at $11 billion. They operate in a niche (voice) while successfully merging it with a technological revolution (AI). Their business has already secured backing from the world's most prestigious funds, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, ICONIQ, and many others.
The potential for an "ElevenLabs Mafia" - and specifically a "Polish ElevenLabs Mafia" - is already becoming visible. Mati Staniszewski and Bartek Pucek (an early-stage ElevenLabs investor) co-invested in the Polish startup Zeta Labs, which is developing an AI agent capable of autonomously executing complex tasks.
Aleksandra Pędraszewska, one of the first Poles hired at ElevenLabs and a high school classmate of Staniszewski and Dąbkowski from the Kopernik High School in Warsaw, has also become a VC investor at Vastpoint. Her fund-alongside Mati Staniszewski-has already invested in Replenit, an AI-powered platform that enables brands to reach customers at the right time and through the most effective channels.
Staniszewski, Pucek, and Tomasz Karwatka (another early ElevenLabs investor) have also co-invested in Golf-a participant in the 2025 cohort of Y Combinator, the world's premier startup accelerator. Golf provides enterprises with visibility into shadow AI and offers control over AI agents and the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
I detailed the relationships crucial to the company's founders in the first part of the Polish Tech Minds report. Today, I am presenting the second part of this month-long research effort.
The 0.18% Candidate Pool
The creation of an "ElevenLabs Mafia" over the next few years will depend on the other Poles working at the company. My LinkedIn analysis identified 43* such individuals (data as of late February 2026).
The number of Polish experts at the firm is expected to grow every month, as the company previously announced it would hire over 100 people in Warsaw alone. Additionally, there are Poles living in other countries who also work for ElevenLabs.
The sheer luck of those employed at ElevenLabs is highlighted by recruitment statistics for the first quarter of 2026. The company hired a total of 150 people out of over 79,000 candidates. That represents an acceptance rate of 0.18%.
- -Over 50% of ElevenLabs revenue comes from enterprise clients
- -IPO could happen within two to three years
- -43 Poles identified at ElevenLabs as of late February 2026
- -18% of identified Poles are at their first or second job ever
- -55% of the Poles identified in this report work in tech-related roles
- -0.18% of applicants got a job at ElevenLabs in Q1 2026
While ElevenLabs' selection process is rigorous, it also provides opportunities for talent without traditional experience or formal education. For 18% of the Poles included in the Polish Tech Minds report, their role at the company is the first or second of their career. The youngest in the group is Franek Mirkowski, who was hired as a teenager.
On his landing page, Franek writes:
At age 15, I joined SalesPatriot (a defense startup from a Y Combinator cohort) as one of its first engineers. I am passionate about deep learning research. I dropped out of high school and currently work as a Research Engineer at ElevenLabs.
Such young, high-agency individuals are the ideal members of a future influence group. At ElevenLabs, they will gain the competencies, contacts, and relationships vital for their future career paths.
Olympiad Champions on the Payroll
In the case of PayPal, major businesses were often created by team members with technical backgrounds. ElevenLabs aggressively invests in Polish talent in this field.
55% of the Poles identified in this report work in tech-related roles, including Engineering, Audio Engineering, and Quality Assurance Engineering. This group includes winners of international informatics olympiads who are still students. Among them is Jan Kociszewski, a silver medalist at the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence.
He writes:
I am deeply intrigued by the training dynamics of various models... I wish to use my knowledge and intuition to solve a wide range of challenging real-world problems.
Why Founders Will Back Their Own People
I believe it is these talented tech specialists who will create the next breakthrough solutions, and if they need help, they will turn to the ElevenLabs founders.
And the founders will help. Why? Because they know it works - even in a Polish context.
Supporting former colleagues is a practice widely championed by Tomasz Karwatka - a Polish entrepreneur, founder of the e-commerce company Divante, and another early investor in ElevenLabs who maintains a close relationship with Staniszewski and Dąbkowski. Karwatka built a similar group around Divante, which allowed him to participate in projects with higher valuations than his original venture. For example, he invested in Callstack (company specialised in React & React Native Development) that was sold for PLN 0.5 billion (approximately $125 million).
He promotes investing in employees who want to start their own businesses, stating:
I'm not afraid that my most talented people will leave to start their own business. I'm afraid they won't invite me to join them.
I am convinced that both Staniszewski and Dąbkowski will draw from these lessons.
The Turning Point
The final pillar of a potential "ElevenLabs Mafia" is capital. In PayPal's case, the IPO was a critical milestone.
ElevenLabs has similar plans. Recently, Mati Staniszewski announced that an IPO could happen within two to three years, with the company considering a dual-listing in both New York and Warsaw. If the firm maintains its current momentum, this could occur at a valuation that is "astronomical" by Polish standards.
This, in turn, will provide some employees (including those from Poland) with significant funds to build their own businesses in the future.
ElevenLabs has already provided a liquidity event for early team members. An employee tender offer was conducted in 2025 at a valuation of $6.6 billion. It is therefore safe to assume there are already millionaires within the company who have set aside capital to build something new in the future.
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Methodology: Internal Analysis - data derived from an analysis of 250+ LinkedIn profiles (as of late February 2026). In the experience section, the individual must have listed ElevenLabs as a current professional position.
- Social Media Statement: Staniszewski, M. (2026). Update regarding Q1 2026 Net New ARR results - LinkedIn.
- Official Corporate Announcement: ElevenLabs (2026). Securing a new funding round (Series D): elevenlabs.io/blog/series-d
- Official Corporate Announcement: ElevenLabs (2025). Announcing an employee tender offer: elevenlabs.io/blog/announcing-an-employee-tender
- Official Corporate Announcement: ElevenLabs (2024). It's 11/11!: elevenlabs.io/pl/blog/its-1111
- Economic Analysis: Bankier.pl (2026). ElevenLabs aims for IPO and dual-listing in Warsaw: bankier.pl/...9095731.html
- Industry Article: My Company Polska (2024). Bartek Pucek and Mati Staniszewski invest in Zeta Labs: mycompanypolska.pl/.../15072
- Analytical Summary: My Company Polska (2025). Who invested in ElevenLabs?: mycompanypolska.pl/.../19309
- Professional Portfolio: Mirkowski, F. (2025): Mirkowski.dev
- Professional Profile: Kociszewski, J. (2025) - LinkedIn.
Editorial Note (April 22, 2026): This report has been updated to include newly confirmed details regarding the investment activities of the ElevenLabs ecosystem. Specifically, the text now reflects Aleksandra Pędraszewska's role at Vastpoint and her joint investment with Mati Staniszewski in Replenit. Additionally, information has been added regarding the co-investment by Staniszewski, Bartek Pucek, and Tomasz Karwatka in the Y Combinator-backed startup Golf. These updates further substantiate the emerging "ElevenLabs Mafia" thesis.
* Editorial Note (May 4, 2026): In late April, Mati Staniszewski announced that four founders of Papla Media - Hubert Siuzdak, Dominik Stachura, Jakub Abramczyk, and Tomasz Dentko - are joining the team. He estimated the ElevenLabs team in Poland at 50 people.
