ElevenLabs vs Suno: Founders, CEOs and History
ElevenLabs was founded in 2022 by Mati Staniszewski, Piotr Dabkowski and is led by Mati Staniszewski. Suno was founded in 2022 by Mikey Shulman, Keenan Freyberg, Martin Camacho and is led by Mikey Shulman.
Company facts
ElevenLabs
- Founded
- 2022
- Headquarters
- London, United Kingdom & New York City, New York, United States
- Current CEO
- Mati Staniszewski
- Employees
- 800
Suno
- Founded
- 2022
- Headquarters
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- Current CEO
- Mikey Shulman
Founders
ElevenLabs
Mati Staniszewski
Mati Staniszewski is the Polish-born co-founder and CEO of ElevenLabs. He grew up near Warsaw, studied mathematics at Imperial College London and worked at Palantir before starting ElevenLabs with school friend Piotr Dabkowski in 2022.
Piotr Dabkowski
Piotr Dabkowski is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of ElevenLabs. He studied at the University of Cambridge, worked as a machine learning engineer at Google and leads the research behind ElevenLabs' speech, transcription and music models.
Suno
Mikey Shulman
Mikey Shulman is a fiercely visionary American technology entrepreneur, highly strategic AI researcher, and the profoundly influential CEO and co-founder fundamentally responsible for architecting the massively dominant Suno generative music empire.
Keenan Freyberg
Keenan Freyberg is an absolutely brilliant digital strategist, fiercely skilled operational architect, and the profoundly influential co-founder fundamentally responsible for the incredibly robust commercial scaling and go-to-market execution of the massive Su…
Martin Camacho
Martin Camacho is a highly astute software engineer, fiercely visionary AI researcher, and the profoundly influential technical co-founder fundamentally responsible for programming the incredibly complex algorithmic bedrock of the massive Suno audio generation…
Georg Kucsko
Georg Kucsko is an absolutely brilliant physicist, fiercely skilled machine learning architect, and the profoundly influential technical co-founder fundamentally responsible for the highly critical acoustic modeling and generative capabilities of the massive S…
CEOs and their tenures
ElevenLabs
- Mati Staniszewski2022–present
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Has led ElevenLabs since founding, taking it from beta in 2023 to a $22 billion valuation in 2026.
Source - Piotr Dabkowski2022–present
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Leads research behind ElevenLabs' voice, transcription and music models.
Source
Suno
- Mikey Shulman2022–present
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Mikey Shulman co-founded Suno with fellow machine learning experts. As CEO, he led the creation of the breakthrough generative AI platform capable of producing high-quality, full-length songs with vocals and instrumentation from simple text prompts.
Source - Georg Kucsko2022–2024
Co-Founder
Developed the core AI music generation models and audio synthesis pipelines that power the platform's ability to produce full-length songs from text prompts.
Source
Timeline: ElevenLabs and Suno side by side
2022ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs founded
Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dabkowski start the company to build expressive AI voice and dubbing.
2022Suno
Suno Founded in Cambridge by Kensho Veterans
Mikey Shulman, Keenan Freyberg, Martin Camacho, and Georg Kucsko incorporated Suno to pioneer generative audio intelligence.
2023ElevenLabs
Public beta and $19M Series A
Beta launches in January; Series A co-led by Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross and Andreessen Horowitz follows in June.
2023Suno
Bark Open-Source Audio Model Released
Released Bark, a very popular open-source text-to-audio model demonstrating expressive speech, singing, and background noise.
2023Suno
Launch of Web Platform & Discord Community
Launched the initial generative music web application, quickly reaching millions of viral songs across social media.
2023Suno
Microsoft Copilot Partnership
Partnered with Microsoft to integrate Suno music generation directly into the Microsoft Copilot ecosystem.
2024ElevenLabs
$80M Series B at $1.1B valuation
January 2024 round makes ElevenLabs a unicorn; the company later launches its Conversational AI agent platform and Reader app.
2024Suno
Suno v3 Launch & $125M Series B at $500M Valuation
Released Suno v3 and closed a $125M Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners at a reported $500M valuation.
2024Suno
RIAA Copyright Lawsuit Filed & Defense of Fair Use
Major record labels filed federal copyright lawsuits; Suno defended its technology under established legal fair use doctrines.
2024Suno
Launch of Suno Mobile App and v4 Model
Released iOS and Android apps and debuted the v4 model in late 2024.
2025ElevenLabs
$180M Series C at $3.3B; ARR passes $330M
January 2025 round co-led by a16z and ICONIQ; Eleven v3 and Eleven Music launch during the year.
2025Suno
$250M Series C at $2.45B Valuation
Closed a $250M Series C led by Menlo Ventures with NVentures, Hallwood Media, Lightspeed and Matrix on November 19, 2025.
2025Suno
Warner Music Settlement, Licensing Deal and Songkick Purchase
Warner Music Group settled its copyright suit, agreed to license music for future Suno models and sold Songkick to Suno in November 2025.
2026ElevenLabs
$500M Series D at $11B
Sequoia Capital leads the February 2026 round; ARR passes $500 million in April.
2026ElevenLabs
$300M employee tender at $22B
September 30, 2026 tender co-led by Wellington and T. Rowe Price doubles the Series D valuation.
2026Suno
2 Million Paid Subscribers and $300M ARR
Suno reported 2 million paid subscribers and $300M in annual recurring revenue in February 2026.
2026Suno
$400M Series D at $5.4B Valuation
Raised a $400M Series D led by Bond Capital in June 2026, more than doubling its valuation in about seven months.
2026Suno
Suno v6 Launch and Second UMG/Sony Lawsuit
Launched v6 on September 9, 2026, built with Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe; Universal and Sony filed a second suit on September 18.
Acquisitions
ElevenLabs
No verified acquisitions are listed.
Questions about ElevenLabs vs Suno
Who is the CEO of ElevenLabs and Suno?
ElevenLabs is led by Mati Staniszewski and Suno is led by Mikey Shulman. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was ElevenLabs founded vs Suno?
Both ElevenLabs and Suno were founded in 2022, making them the same age.
How many employees does ElevenLabs have compared to Suno?
ElevenLabs employs approximately 800 people. A verified employee count for Suno is not currently available.
Where are ElevenLabs and Suno headquartered?
Both ElevenLabs and Suno are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded ElevenLabs and Suno?
ElevenLabs was founded by Mati Staniszewski, Piotr Dabkowski. Suno was founded by Mikey Shulman, Keenan Freyberg, Martin Camacho, Georg Kucsko.
Which company has a longer operating history — ElevenLabs or Suno?
ElevenLabs has been operating for approximately 4 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Suno has been in operation for around 4 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the ElevenLabs vs Suno overview