The Swedish Duo Making Software Smarter and More Playful with Lovable

Anton Osika began coding at age 12 and helped build the Stockholm AI community. He later served as the first technical hire at Sana Labs before co-founding Depict.ai—an AI-driven startup that raised $20 M during his tenure as CTO.

Fabian Hedin started building ventures from age 10, sold a prop‑tech company in high school, and later worked on projects including Stephen Hawking's communication interface and technology for people with disabilities alongside ex‑SpaceX engineers.

From Weekend Hack to Viral Hit

Following the release of ChatGPT‑3, Anton experimented one weekend with a minimal hack: a tool that could turn plain‑English descriptions into working web apps, dubbed GPT Engineer.

He posted it on GitHub and awoke to viral attention—thousands of users, over 50,000 stars, and messages from non‑coders building their first apps.

That response crystallized the core insight: "99% of the world's best ideas are trapped in the heads of people who can't code." Anton called Fabian at 6 AM, and by 8 AM, they had agreed to build a company to make coding obsolete for most people.

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Walked Away from Comfort to Rewrite the Rules of Software

Once team members at established startups, both co‑founders intentionally left behind existing ventures to focus entirely on their shared bold vision.

Anton left Depict.ai by the end of 2023 to devote himself fully to what became Lovable, a new platform founded in Stockholm in 2023 that aims to democratize software creation.

They considered Y Combinator, but felt a European base and favorable deal terms made staying local preferable.

What Started in a Terminal Became a Global Collaboration

Lovable's initial public interface began in the CLI form of GPT Engineer, which quickly attracted a grassroots community via GitHub and Discord.

The founders cultivated this user base organically—no paid marketing required—by engaging deeply with contributors who helped shape the product itself.

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Rebranding GPT Engineer to Lovable

Despite viral traction, monetization was not immediate. The tool's name diluted its identity, and many users misunderstood it as an OpenAI product.

Anton and Fabian realized they needed a new brand, a consumer‑friendly interface beyond terminal use, and a scalable business model. Thus, Lovable was born—rebranded, visually appealing, and user‑focused.

Weekend Hack to $1.8B AI Unicorn

In October 2024, Lovable secured €6.8 M in pre‑seed funding led by Hummingbird and byFounders, followed by a $15 M pre‑Series A led by Creandum in early 2025.

Soon thereafter, the company accepted a $200 M Series A investment valuing the company at $1.8 billion, making it one of Europe's fastest‑growing AI startups and a unicorn in under two years.

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25,000 Apps a Day. No Coding Required

Lovable scaled rapidly: within eight months, it reached $17 M in ARR, 30,000+ paying customers, and daily creation of 25,000 new apps.

At peak, over 2.3 M users were building on the platform, accounting for over 10% of new websites on the net in one month alone. The company expanded its team from around 45 to plans of 120 staff by mid‑2025 and extended its footprint across Europe and globally.

The AI Agent Building Apps with natural language

Lovable's mission is to empower people with ideas but no coding skills. Inspired by platforms like Canva that democratized design, it intends to expand the pool of builders from millions to billions.

Their product, GPT Engineer and it's feature Agent Mode, now offers AI agents that not only create code but can plan, debug, and iterate autonomously based on natural language specs.

The company is positioned not just as a tool, but as the modern programming interface of the future.

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Forget Credentials. Let Your Ideas Shine.

In internal culture, Lovable emphasizes openness, autonomy, and inclusivity. As described in their blog, team members from diverse backgrounds feel empowered to contribute – even if they lack formal engineering training.

At Lovable, team members are trusted with end-to-end ownership, and creative problem solving is valued just as much as technical expertise.

Lovable's Just Beginning and The World Awaits

Lovable continues to innovate—with features like Agent Mode that gives AI agents autonomy to build parts of projects based on full specifications. As it grows, the company plans to extend beyond Europe into the U.S. and Asia-Pacific, aiming to shape the next billion builders and rewrite what coding can look like globally.

Lovable's story is a modern startup tale: a small Stockholm team harnessing viral momentum, community, AI, and hustle to transform software creation from the inside out.

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