The AI Podcast

Episode: Cosmic Lovable: $6.6B Val $330M Fuel
Date: December 22, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores the meteoric rise of Lovable, a Swedish “vibe coding” startup that has just completed a massive $330 million Series B, bringing its valuation to an eye-popping $6.6 billion—just five months after its Series A round. The host gives an insider’s perspective as a loyal user, breaking down the reasons behind Lovable’s rapid success, the role of “vibe coding,” market context, and the startup’s plan for the new influx of capital. Along the way, the host contrasts Lovable’s journey with the broader AI and no-code landscape, drawing lessons for both developers and entrepreneurs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Scale and Speed of Lovable’s Growth

• Valuation Surge:
  • Lovable tripled its valuation from $1.8B (Series A, July) to $6.6B (Series B, December 2025).
  • Notable backers of the Series B include Capital G, Low Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Databricks Ventures.
  • Only a year old, Lovable is now one of the fastest-growing companies in the global AI ecosystem.

2. User Experience & Product Evolution

• Origins as a No-Code Platform:

  • Lovable lets users “build software and complete applications using text prompts.”
  • Initially, the tool was “not very good at building actual tools that could complete tasks,” but it rapidly improved.
  • Host describes spending “a thousand dollars a month on Lovable” and using it to build the entire homepage of their own AI app, AI Box.
  • “I’m not a developer and instead of using a designer, I’m able to get basically chat with Lovable and have it create a design that I love…” (Host, 04:13)

• Process & Practical Tips:

  • Collaboration with Lovable involves specifying only approved libraries/packages to prevent bloated code:

    “Only use these packages, don’t add any new packages, only use these libraries. And it will do the whole thing with the limitations you give it.” (Host, 06:00)

  • Resolving issues like “30 new packages for your one page” after initial experiments and how iterative teamwork refined the workflow.

3. Usage and Adoption

• Major Companies & Adoption:
  • Users include Klarna, Zendesk, Uber, and more.
  • Over 100,000 new projects are created every day on Lovable—25 million projects in the first year.

4. The Power of Integrations and Next Steps

• Shift from Front-End to Full Application Development:
  • Early limitations: primarily “a beautiful front end design maker, but …not really good at making products.”
  • Recent evolution: integrated with third-party tools (Supabase for backends/databases, OpenAI for AI tasks) to create usable, business-ready tools.
  • Future plans include deeper integrations, expanded enterprise features, core infrastructure additions (databases, payments, hosting).

5. Payments, Monetization & Hosting

• New planned features to allow users to build tools that collect payments and handle full hosting, lowering the bar for launching SaaS apps and monetizable tools.

6. Leadership, Geography, and Philosophy

• CEO Anton’s Leadership:

  • CEO Anton’s decision to remain headquartered in Sweden, resisting pressure to move to Silicon Valley.

    “I can sit here now and say, look, you can build a global AI company from this country. There’s more available talent if you have a strong mission and a lot of urgency working together.” (Host recounting Anton’s words at 10:15)

• Host questions if the Sweden location is the decisive factor but appreciates the message that “you don’t have to have every AI company in Silicon Valley.”

7. Challenges: Tax Scrutiny in the EU

• Recent Criticism:
  • Lovable faced public criticism for not paying value-added tax (VAT) in the EU.
  • CEO confirmed the issue and “pushed back against claims that the EU tax policy makes their region really inhospitable for high growth startups.” (Host, 11:12)

8. Competitive Context and Market Trends

• Broader Vibe Coding/No-Code Landscape:
  • Mention of Cursor: another high-profile company in the space, more developer-focused, raised $3.2B at a $29B valuation in November 2025.
  • Highlights how the entire sector is “growing incredibly fast and is, you know, printing a ton of money.”
  • Core insight: “Anytime that you let people build tools that can let them generate money, they’ll spend a ton of money on it…and I think this is kind of the unlock that both Cursor and Lovable have discovered.” (Host, 12:35)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Lovable’s Impact for Non-Developers:

  “I’m not a developer and instead of using a designer, I’m able to…chat with Lovable and have it create a design that I love that looks exactly like what I want it to do.” (04:13, Host)

• On Managing AI-Generated Code:

  “Only use these packages, don’t add any new packages…when you have to put the code into your code base it’s super easy. It’s not adding new packages.” (06:00, Host)

• On Company Philosophy & Geography:

  “You can build a global AI company from this country. There’s more available talent if you have a strong mission and a lot of urgency working together.” (Recounting CEO Anton, 10:15)

• On the Industry Shift:

  “Vibe coding is getting more and more adoption. VCs are putting a ton of money into this…this sector, this space, whether it’s no code for non-coders or for developers, is growing incredibly fast and…printing a ton of money.” (12:00, Host)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:59 — Introduction to Lovable’s $330M round and $6.6B valuation
• 02:17 — Funding history and major investors
• 04:13 — Host’s personal experience building with Lovable
• 06:00 — Practical workflow solutions and limitations with AI code-gen
• 08:01 — Lovable’s adoption by major companies and user growth
• 09:12 — Product evolution: from design tool to integrated app builder
• 10:15 — CEO Anton on staying headquartered in Sweden
• 11:12 — Addressing VAT criticisms and EU tech climate
• 12:00 — Landscape: Cursor, vibe coding, and the scale of investment/market

Conclusion

This episode offers an in-depth look at Lovable’s explosive rise and the shifting dynamics of AI-driven, no-code and “vibe coding” platforms. By drawing on both direct user experience and industry trends, the host paints a vivid picture of the possibilities for non-developers, the massive VC interest, the importance of product integrations, and the friction points for fast-growing startups in Europe. With companies like Lovable and Cursor leading the way, the future of accessible, AI-powered software creation looks bright—and highly lucrative.