lovable says it’s nearing 8 million users as the year-old ai coding startup eyes more corporate employees

Lovable's User Growth and Funding

Lovable, the AI-powered coding platform headquartered in Stockholm, is rapidly approaching 8 million users. This figure was shared by CEO Anton Osika during a recent interview. It represents a significant increase from the 2.3 million active users reported in July.

The company, established nearly one year ago, is also witnessing the creation of approximately 100,000 new products daily on its platform. This indicates a period of substantial expansion for the startup.

Financial Backing and Valuation

To date, Lovable has secured a total of $228 million in funding. A $200 million funding round completed this summer resulted in a company valuation of $1.8 billion.

Recent discussions among investors suggest a potential for future investment at a $5 billion valuation. However, Osika stated the company is not currently seeking additional capital and refrained from commenting on fundraising plans.

Annual Recurring Revenue and Market Trends

During a presentation at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Osika did not disclose Lovable’s current annual recurring revenue (ARR). The company previously announced reaching $100 million in ARR in June.

However, questions have arisen regarding the long-term sustainability of the "vibe coding" trend. Recent research from Barclays, alongside data from Google Trends, indicates a decline in traffic to popular services like Lovable and Vercel’s v0 after earlier peak levels.

Barclays analysts noted that Lovable’s traffic decreased by 40% as of September. They questioned whether the interest in app and site "vibe coding" has plateaued or is experiencing a temporary slowdown.

Retention and Team Expansion

Despite traffic fluctuations, Osika emphasized strong user retention. He cited a net dollar retention rate exceeding 100%, signifying increased user spending over time.

Lovable has recently surpassed 100 employees and is actively recruiting leadership talent from San Francisco to strengthen its Stockholm headquarters.

From Open Source to Platform

Lovable originated from GPT Engineer, an open-source tool created by Osika that gained popularity among developers. He quickly identified a larger opportunity: empowering the 99% of individuals without coding expertise.

Osika explained his vision: “We’re going to reimagine how you build software.” He shared that he immediately contacted his co-founder with this idea.

Diverse User Base

The platform attracts a wide range of users. Over half of the Fortune 500 companies are utilizing Lovable to enhance their creative processes.

Furthermore, an 11-year-old in Lisbon successfully built a Facebook clone for his school, and a Swedish team is generating $700,000 in annual revenue from a startup launched on the platform seven months ago.

Osika attributes the platform’s success to its ease of use, stating, “What I hear from people trying Lovable is, ‘It just works.’” He credits this to Swedish design principles.

Addressing Security Concerns

Security remains a critical challenge within the "vibe coding" sector. Osika acknowledged the issue in response to a recent incident involving another platform where an app leaked 72,000 images, including sensitive data.

He stated that hiring security engineers is a top priority for the engineering organization. The goal is to make building with Lovable more secure than traditional coding methods.

Lovable now implements multiple security checks before deployment. However, users developing sensitive applications, such as banking apps, are still advised to engage security experts.

Competition and Collaboration

Osika addressed competition from AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic, whose models power Lovable but also offer their own coding agents. He believes the market is large enough to accommodate multiple successful companies.

He emphasized the importance of unlocking human creativity and enabling anyone with good ideas to build businesses. He believes this should be encouraged, regardless of who facilitates it.

While maintaining a collaborative stance, Osika has engaged in some public discussion with competitors like Amjad Masad of Replit. However, his primary focus is on creating the most intuitive experience for users.

Lovable's Long-Term Vision

Osika described Lovable’s mission as building “the last piece of software” – a comprehensive platform that supports all aspects of a product organization, from user understanding to feature deployment.

He highlighted the shift towards prototyping ideas quickly, rather than lengthy presentations, using Lovable. This allows for rapid testing with early users before significant resource commitment.

Company Culture and Leadership

Despite the rapid growth and investor attention, Osika appeared relaxed and grounded. The 30-year-old former particle physicist, who was the first employee at Sana Labs, has transitioned quickly from open-source developer to venture-backed founder.

He expressed a greater interest in discussing European work culture than his company’s success. He emphasized the importance of a mission-driven team and a healthy work-life balance.

“The best people in my team today, most of them, they have kids, and they really, really care about what we’re doing. They’re not working 12 hours, six days a week,” he said.

He acknowledged that, as a startup, employees likely work more hours than in traditional jobs.