(Reuters) - ElevenLabs said on Thursday it has raised $180 million in a new funding round that triples the voice cloning artificial intelligence startup's valuation to $3.3 billion.

The Series C funding round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Iconiq Growth, with participation from additional new investors NEA, World Innovation Lab, Valor, Endeavor Catalyst Fund and Lunate.

Investors are racing to fund generative AI startups after the meteoric success of OpenAI's ChatGPT to capitalize on the commercial potential of AI-powered products.

Headquartered in London, ElevenLabs aims to use the funding to expand its research into more expressive and controllable voice AI, create new products and expand its tools for developers and businesses.

The startup, which offers tools for creating AI-generated voices with different languages, accents and emotions, has raised a total of $281 million in funding since its founding in 2021.

ElevenLabs was co-founded by Piotr Dabkowski and Mati Staniszewski, who have previously worked at Google and Palantir Technologies, respectively.

"This funding moves us closer to a world where digital interactions happen by voice - fluid, natural, and as effortless as a conversation," said CEO Mati Staniszewski.

ElevenLabs added it broadened its product lineup by adding tools for speech generation, voice design, sound effects and AI-driven dubbing in 32 languages in 2024.

The startup has partnerships with publishers including The New Yorker, The Washington Post and The Atlantic, and gaming studios such as Paradox and Cloud Imperium Games, according to its website.

ElevenLabs said that existing investors Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Smash Capital, SV Angel, NFDG, BroadLight Capital were also increasing their support.