Lovable AI Unicorn Raises $200M, Takes Europe’s Tech Scene by Storm
At the TechBBQ conference in Copenhagen, Anton Osika, co-founder of vibe coding app Lovable, captivated a full audience with his vision for the platform. Specializing in assisting individuals with no coding experience to build apps and websites, Lovable is a leader in the burgeoning AI sector known as vibe-coding.
Lovable’s impressive growth is evident; within eight months, the Swedish company reportedly exceeded $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and secured a $200 million Series A funding round at a valuation of $1.8 billion – making it Europe’s fastest-growing unicorn. Speculation suggests a Series B is imminent, potentially valuing the company at $4 billion.
Osika envisions Lovable as a comprehensive solution for building software products, aiming to guide users and founders through all stages of product development to create AI-native companies more easily. In June, Lovable introduced an agent capable of reading files, debugging errors, web searches, image generation, and file location – a first step in realizing this vision.
The platform now boasts over 2.3 million active users, with 180,000 subscribers paying for the service. Osika explains that Lovable’s pricing strategy is based on what is necessary to cover operational costs, citing a marketer building a sales training platform and an engineer managing multiple small businesses as popular use cases.
Although AI-generated code has faced criticism for being brittle and unsuitable for finished products, Osika remains unfazed, emphasizing the need for thorough code review before publication, regardless of whether it is human or AI-generated.
Currently, Lovable operates on various foundational models, including Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s GPT-5. While both Anthropic and OpenAI also offer product development services (Claude Code and Codex), Osika sees this as an opportunity rather than a threat, as Lovable leverages multiple AI model providers to provide users with unmatched capabilities while maintaining rapid growth without excessive infrastructure.
To stay competitive, Lovable focuses on providing a fast, secure, and user-friendly experience. “If we continue to do that,” Osika said, “we’re going to build more trust with our customers than anyone else.”
Figma, a peer in the app design space, recently made headlines with its successful IPO, reaching a $19.3 billion market cap on its first day. When asked about Figma, Osika maintains his focus on creating the best product for Lovable’s users: “As long as we are listening to our users and giving them what they need, that’s all that matters.”
Lovable is deeply rooted in the Swedish tech market, with a list of investors including top European firms and angel investors like Stefan Lindeberg (Nordic Game Ventures), Fredrik Hjelm (founder of Guestit), Greens Ventures (Nordic), Hummingbird Ventures (London); 20VC (London, founded by Harry Stebbings who launched Project Europe to channel investments into the ecosystem).
Notable investors and clients include Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky, Swedish founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski of Klarna, and other well-known entities like HubSpot and Photoroom. The success of Lovable has sparked excitement within the Nordic startup ecosystem, with Shamillah Bankiya, a principal at UK’s Dawn Capital, remarking on its significance for European founders:
“The success of Lovable and other European AI unicorns is a success for all of Europe. Beyond the immediate impact of the thousands of Europeans employed by these companies, the greater effect is cultural – it raises the bar for what ambitious founders across the continent can dream of and achieve.”
Osika confirms that Lovable intends to remain in Europe, with a team based in Los Angeles, but expresses no immediate plans for expansion stateside. However, Osika has recently started investing in European founders himself, including Dennis Green-Lieber’s Danish consumer intelligence company, Propane.ai, as part of its $1.2 million seed round.
Green-Lieber views Lovable’s success as a validation of the potential for world-class talent and global impact within the Nordic scene: “Yes, we’ve had giants like Zendesk, Unity, Klarna, and Spotify over the past decade, but what Lovable shows is that with small teams, a global mindset, and relentless effort, you can still build a category-defining company.”
