Swedish startup Lovable hits $100M revenue in record 8 months

Lovable, a Swedish “vibe coding” startup, has achieved $100 million in annual recurring revenue just eight months after launch, marking one of the fastest revenue growths in software company history. The company also recently secured unicorn status with a $200 million Series A funding round that valued it at $1.8 billion, demonstrating explosive investor enthusiasm for AI-powered coding tools that allow users to build software using natural language instead of traditional programming languages.

What you should know: Vibe coding represents a fundamental shift in software development, making programming accessible to non-technical users through AI-powered natural language interfaces.

• CEO Anton Osika announced the milestone on X, claiming Lovable grew “faster than OpenAI, Cursor, Wiz, and every other software company in history.”
• The company has attracted 2.3 million users and recently launched Lovable Agent, an update that “reduces the error rates” by 91 percent.
• The term “vibe coding” was coined by Andrej Karpathy, an AI scientist, to describe using AI tools for software development with natural language commands.

The big picture: The vibe coding market is experiencing unprecedented growth as multiple startups achieve billion-dollar valuations in record time.

• Anysphere, a California-based company that makes the Cursor coding assistant, raised $900 million in June, pushing its valuation to $9.9 billion with annualized revenue exceeding $500 million.
• Replit, another California-based coding platform, is reportedly in talks for a $200 million funding round that would value the company at $3 billion, up from its 2023 valuation of $1.2 billion.
• These tools are expected to disrupt traditional software development and create entirely new career paths for non-programmers.

Real-world impact: High-profile examples demonstrate both the potential and limitations of vibe coding technology.

• Jack Dorsey, CEO of Block, built Bitchat, a Bluetooth mesh network messaging app, over a single weekend using vibe coding tools.
• However, the app came under criticism from security experts who identified vulnerabilities they described as “hallmarks of vibe code (in)security.”

Why this matters: The rapid success of vibe coding companies signals a potential democratization of software development, but also raises questions about code quality and security as programming becomes more accessible to non-technical users.