Endeavor

Two years after launching its first model, ElevenLabs is investing $11M into the Polish AI ecosystem—and the number 11 is no coincidence. Endeavor Entrepreneurs Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dabkowski, founders of ElevenLabs, launched their audio AI company just two years ago on 11/11—Poland’s Independence Day. This year, on 11/11, they announced their $11M investment plan at an event co-hosted by Endeavor Poland. Here’s what their investment will bring over the next five years: ?? A new Warsaw R&D center to attract top AI talent. ??? Support for initiatives to educate local experts and creators, and work with dubbing actors. ?? Partnering on educational programs, including the ML in PL Conference, the Informatics Olympiad, the AI Olympiad, and more. ElevenLabs is already a global leader with users creating content in 32 languages and a team of 100+ from 29 countries. But they’ve never forgotten their roots. They're betting on Poland, confident in its potential to shape the future of tech and the next generations of Polish Founders. This is the #MultiplierEffect in action. Congratulations to Mati, Piotr, and the Endeavor Poland team on this milestone! #MoreThanScale #MultiplierEffect #PolishAI #Entrepreneurship #PayItForward

Reid Hoffman is on a quest. He wants to show the world how much good is possible with commercially available AI. As the world navigates the unprecedented effects of AI, Reid is experimenting with new ways to connect people—like using his digital twin to break down language barriers, or even exploring new forms of self-reflection by debating with another version of himself. Inspired by his conversation with Joanna Rees, Endeavor Board Member and Managing Partner of West, we invite founders around the world to reflect: What kind of future will your AI-enabled business create? Catch the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gWfYw5vE #AI #MoreThanScaleMultiply #Entrepreneurship

The countdown is on! The Endeavor Gala is just weeks away. On December 6th, join 500+ founders, investors, and industry leaders to celebrate the impact of our 2,600+ high-impact entrepreneurs across 45+ countries. This year’s Gala is inspired by the spirit of ‘home’—honoring our global community of diaspora entrepreneurs who not only GO BIG, driving change across borders, but also GO HOME, reinvesting in their local communities and inspiring the next generation. Together, they’re building diverse, dynamic ecosystems across continents and redefining what “home” means. Celebrate with us, the far-reaching impact of entrepreneurship in a space that feels like a home away from home, designed to foster connections and meaningful moments. ??Learn more: endeavor.org/gala #MoreThanScaleMultiply #EndeavorGala #Entrepreneurship #GoBigAndGoHome

Every person is just a few connections away from someone who can change their trajectory. Right now, a potential Board Member in Greece could be in touch with our South Africa team. A future Mexican Endeavor Entrepreneur could attend our Gala in Egypt. Or the next Endeavor Catalyst LP could be mentoring a founder in Spain. How can we map these connections to bring people together across borders? To build a truly borderless network, we’re using relationship intelligence technology to map and analyze the activity within our global community. With Affinity.co, we’ve captured 66,000+ meeting records in less than a year and over 900,000 email interactions over five years. This is just the start. Our goal is to: ???Unlock the power of “one degree of separation” so our community can tap into the right connections when they need them most. ???Scale Endeavor’s collective knowledge by learning from every interaction to better support high-impact founders worldwide. ???Become a global network without borders, identifying and supporting connections across continents, where founders, mentors, and investors can be found anywhere. For that, and so much more to come, we’re proud to receive the Relationship Intelligence for Good Award, given by Affinity during their conference in San Francisco last month. We have always been about the people—and now, the intelligence behind these connections can help change trajectories, creating lasting ripple effects. #MoreThanScaleMultiply #MultiplierEffect #Entrepreneurship #RelationshipIntelligence

One unicorn doesn’t always lead to 50 more—unless there’s a unique force at play. We call it Endeavor’s Multiplier Effect?: Successful founders collectively training, mentoring, and investing in the next generation—a concept that has been the core of our mission since 1997. Multipliers across the globe are driving economic growth by multiplying their impact: ?????Peak Games, acquired for $1.8B by Zynga in 2020, has become a catalyst for new ventures. Former Peak Games employees have since launched 65 startups. ???? The founders of Careem—Middle East’s first unicorn after a $3.1B acquisition by Uber—have invested in 80 companies and mentored dozens of entrepreneurs across the region. Former Careem employees have gone on to launch over 120 startups. And these are just a few examples of Endeavor's Multiplier Effect? in action. As Linda Rottenberg, co-founder of Endeavor, says: “Without the mindset of paying it forward, you might have one, two, or three unicorns, but that’s it.” Nearly 30 years in, we see that when successful founders pay it forward, entire economies transform. Read more from Kori Hale in Forbes: https://lnkd.in/e2h4GQS4 #MoreThanScaleMultiply #Entrepreneurship

Last week in San Francisco, we officially welcomed Endeavor Ukraine into our network. Over 50 Ukrainian founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders gathered including Nazar Gulyk, Ambassador at IT Ukraine Association, and Dmytro Kushneruk, Consul General of Ukraine in San Francisco. Here are a few insights from the discussions: ???Ukranian talent is undeniable. Founders from Ukraine have powered some of the most influential global companies, including WhatsApp, PayPal, Affirm, Revolut, and Grammarly. Our mission is to multiply this impact. ??Based in Kyiv, Endeavor Ukraine will focus on identifying and selecting ambitious entrepreneurs leading fast-growing companies who are on track for 10x growth. ???Ukrainian founders will have access to 2,600+ global peers and 5,000+ experienced mentors across the globe, offering guidance and community for every stage of growth. ?? Endeavor Catalyst, which has already made 300+ investments across 37+ markets, will help fill the Series A and growth-stage funding gap for Ukraine’s tech companies. “We see many ambitious Ukrainian founders, both in Ukraine and concentrated in hubs like the US, UK, Poland, Spain, and Portugal, building global businesses from day one. Endeavor will support their growth leveraging its global community,” said Sviatoslav Sviatnenko, Managing Director, Endeavor Ukraine. As we build these bridges, we're excited to see Ukrainian founders scale globally while strengthening their connection to the local ecosystem, even in the most challenging times. #MoreThanScaleMultiply #MultiplierEffect #Entrepreneurship

The next big tech hub isn’t trying to replicate Silicon Valley—and that’s exactly why it’s succeeding. Last month, the Endeavor Saudi Arabia team hosted the Fintech Forward MENA Summit in Riyadh, bringing together 500+ global fintech leaders from over 20 countries. During the event, Abdulla N. Elyas, co-founder of Careem, shared valuable insights on how Careem competed with Uber to become MENA’s #1 super app——a journey that culminated in the largest tech acquisition in MENA history. Abdulla’s approach? He built for his community—designing features with his family in mind. His deep understanding of the local market was key to attracting and retaining talent, rallying support around the "homegrown" underdog taking on a global giant. His story is a powerful reminder for founders: local insights are a critical advantage when scaling. And with Saudi Arabia’s growing ecosystem, the MENA fintech landscape is accelerating, making it an exciting time for entrepreneurs across the region. Thank you to our sponsors for helping to make the Summit a success: Riyad Bank, Sagard, Connect Money, NYSE, Fintech Saudi | ???? ????????, SEEDRA Ventures, Tamara, AlJammaz Group, 1957 Ventures, UBS, SVC, RAED Ventures, Breadfast. And thank you to Endeavor Saudi chairman Musaab Al-Muhaidib for hosting our networking dinner for 250+ guests—an unforgettable close to an insightful event. #MENA #Entrepreneurship #MoreThanScaleMultiply #MultiplierEffect

We are proud to welcome Sviatoslav Sviatnenko as the Managing Director of Endeavor Ukraine! ???? Sviat is a prominent leader in Ukraine’s tech community on a mission to grow the ecosystem tenfold. Over the years, he has invested thousands of hours supporting entrepreneurship, witnessing the rise of Ukraine’s first unicorns. His experience spans VC, managerial, and entrepreneurial roles, with impressive achievements that include founding INNOV8—which he built from scratch into a 20-person team with impactful initiatives like Mission Possible and Seeds of Bravery, even amidst the challenges of wartime. His impact has also earned him recognition on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Throughout his career, Sviat has raised capital, helped startups scale internationally, and formed partnerships with leading institutions like the European Commission, Oxford Sa?d Business School, and the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund. These collaborations have resulted in numerous programs, supporting hundreds of early-stage Ukrainian entrepreneurs every year. Now, based in Kyiv, Sviat is ready to lead Endeavor Ukraine in empowering high-impact entrepreneurs to scale up and dream big. Here’s to building a thriving post-war startup ecosystem! ?? #MoreThanScaleMultiply #Entrepreneurship #MultiplierEffect

Imagine trying to start a business in a place where the word “entrepreneur” doesn’t even exist. In the 1990s, Linda Rottenberg was in a taxi in Buenos Aires, talking to a driver with an engineering degree who felt he couldn’t start a business. There wasn’t even a word for “entrepreneur” in Spanish. And that was the beginning: ?? In 1997, Linda co-founded Endeavor to bring entrepreneurship to those without access, creating local role models worldwide, beyond Silicon Valley. ???In 2007, Marcos Galperin and Hernan Kazah of Mercado Libre became Endeavor’s first US IPO on NASDAQ. Since then, 90+ Mercado Libre alumni have launched startups, fueling Argentina’s ecosystem. ?????In 2012, Endeavor Greece opened amid an economic crisis, supporting high-impact entrepreneurs to rebuild through innovation. ?? Today, founders like Alex Chatzieleftheriou of Blueground—Greece’s first unicorn—and Antonis Malaxianakis of HarborLab, are scaling globally and inspiring the next generation. ???? And just last week, we launched Endeavor Ukraine. For the first time, we’re investing in a country at war because when economies go down, entrepreneurs turn up. Our investments will empower the next generation of local role models and #multipliers. And these are just a few stories of the now 2,600+ entrepreneurs we support in 45+ countries around the world. As Linda shared in a recent conversation with Dima Shvets: “True success doesn’t come from numbers, it comes from the value you create.” Read their full conversation here on Mindset Matters: https://lnkd.in/efPQ5DjG #MoreThanScaleMultiply #MultiplierEffect #Entrepreneurship

AI is reshaping marketing technology—and this team of founders is stepping up to lead the charge. Endeavor entrepreneurs Hande Cilingir, Serhat Soyuerel, Mehmet Sinan Toktay, and Arda Koterin, alongside Muharrem Derink?k and Okan Yedibela, co-founders of Insider., just announced a historic US$500M Series E funding round led by General Atlantic. Since 2012, this team has maintained impressive growth, creating ripples of impact across the globe. ???After working in various tech roles, Hande recognized flaws in how brands managed customer experience and set out to build a solution. ???In 2012, she and her team founded Insider to help brands to enhance and personalize their marketing efforts. ???Expanding their product offerings and growing steadily, Insider became a leading marketing platform in Türkiye. ???In 2022, Insider became one of Türkiye's first female-founded unicorns, expanding to global markets and proving that world-class businesses can thrive beyond Silicon Valley. ???Today, Insider is the #1 AI-native omnichannel experience and customer engagement platform, helping over 1,500 customers—including Nike, Samsung, L’Oreal, Unilever, and Allianz—across 5 continents. ?? With this Series E funding, Insider will expand its US presence, scale global operations, and invest heavily in AI to become the disruptive force leading the AI era in the martech industry. Their impact goes far beyond their own growth. Nearly three dozen startups have been launched by former employees, creating a self-sustaining cycle of innovation. This round also marks the single largest funding round by a women-founded martech unicorn. Hande serves as a role model for women, actively supporting female leadership with an executive team that’s 50% women. Congratulations to Hande, Serhat, Mu, Sinan, Okan, Arda, and the entire Insider team on this milestone, showing the next generation of global entrepreneurs that they can dream bigger! #Entrepreneurship #MoreThanScaleMultiply Endeavor Türkiye