AI-powered coding startup Lovable, specializing in fully automated AI programming (Vibe coding), has seen its valuation soar to $6.6 billion in its latest funding round, according to sources familiar with the matter. This marks a staggering 266% increase from its $1.8 billion valuation in July, capping off a year of explosive growth that positions the Swedish company among Europe's most valuable startups.
Vibe coding represents an advanced subset of AI-assisted programming, where developers use natural language prompts to generate, modify, and debug code through AI models. This approach reduces the need for line-by-line code review, emphasizing rapid prototyping with the philosophy of "run first, optimize later." The trend has gained global momentum, with GitHub's Octoverse 2025 reporting that 80% of new developers adopt AI coding tools like Copilot within their first week, while Stack Overflow 2025 shows 50.6% of professional Java/Python developers use AI programming tools daily.
The funding round saw participation from prominent investors including Accel, which previously backed Lovable and other AI programming startups like Anysphere (creator of Cursor) and Thinking Machines (led by ex-OpenAI executive Mira Murati). Khosla Ventures also joined the round, sources revealed. Founded in 2023, Lovable reported $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in November - a dramatic leap from its $1 million ARR milestone less than a year earlier. The company raised $200 million in July with backing from Creandum, Klarna founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski, and Synthesia co-founder Victor Riparbelli.
Lovable dominates Europe's AI programming sector, which has attracted intense Silicon Valley interest. Comparable U.S. players include Anysphere ($29.3 billion valuation), Replit ($3 billion), and Vercel ($9.3 billion). Headquartered in Stockholm, Lovable is expanding with new North American offices in Boston and San Francisco. Its platform integrates models from OpenAI and Anthropic with proprietary technology, enabling users to build and deploy applications through text prompts without coding knowledge. The company processes over 100,000 IT projects daily.
The AI programming revolution reflects broader enterprise adoption of generative AI and autonomous AI agents. Microsoft reported 20 million GitHub Copilot users, with 90% of Fortune 100 companies actively using the tool. Industry leaders like Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Salesforce, and NVIDIA demonstrate robust demand for both AI infrastructure and productivity-enhancing applications. Analysts view this as validation of AI's enterprise viability and a precursor to accelerated growth post-2026.