💓 Lovable: 0-6M ARR in 6 weeks
+ 90 second post
Today’s post dives into the founding story of one of my favorite new AI tools—sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Read time: 2 min 06 seconds
The AI development tool space is heating up faster than a cup of ramen in a dorm microwave. With each new innovation, these tools promise to make coding faster, smarter, and more accessible.
One of my favorite AI development tools is Lovable, an AI copilot enabling users to build full-stack applications through simple chat interfaces.
I recently attempted to build a real-time translation app for fun. I started with Cursor, but after 4 hours and getting stuck, I turned to Lovable.
In under two hours, I had a fully functional app up and running. It’s insane:
// Origin Story
Lovable’s journey starts with two ambitious entrepreneurs from Stockholm, Sweden: Anton Osika and Fabian Hedin. Osika, who began developing apps at age 12, co-founded Depict AI, a startup that graduated from Y Combinator and raised $20M. Hedin, a developer who coded at SpaceX and founded multiple companies, brought his expertise in creating scalable solutions.
Together, they launched an open-source project called GPT Engineer.
GPT Engineer allowed users to describe app features in natural language, generating production-ready code. While it garnered over 50,000 GitHub stars and cultivated a loyal community on Discord, monetizing the project proved challenging.
However, it laid the foundation for something bigger.
// GPT Engineer to Lovable
Recognizing the limitations of GPT Engineer, Osika and Hedin rebranded and rebuilt it as Lovable, an intuitive, visually appealing application designed for a broader audience, including non-technical users.
During my recent chat with Anton, he shared that the rebranding was critical to broadening their audience:
“We wanted Lovable to feel approachable, even for those without coding experience.” - Anton
The key upgrades included:
Improves over time: Unlike competitors, Lovable’s system is finely tuned to ensure new code doesn’t break existing solutions.
Seamless Integrations: The platform seamlessly works with tools like Stripe, Supabase, Shadcn, and Resend, enabling covering all desired functionality for building a commercial application without bugs.
Intuitive Interface: Lovable avoids terminal-based or code focused and abstracts it into a much more user-friendly interface.
// Rapid Growth and Monetization
Lovable’s growth has been nothing short of remarkable.
Within six weeks of its subscription launch, the platform grew from $0 to over $6 million in ARR — the fastest of any European company to date.
Lovable stands out by simplifying app creation for both developers and non-technical users.
It allows users to describe their app ideas in natural language while handling the rest as the world’s first AI full-stack engineer, seamlessly integrating front-end and back-end development. Its integration with Supabase ensures reliable database management and real-time functionality, while continuous improvements in error handling and system evaluations guarantee high-quality output.
“We’re building for the 99% of people who don’t know how to write code. Lovable is the fastest way to collaboratively build an application.” - Anton
// Competitive landscape and positioning
The AI development tools space is getting crowded, but after testing a few standout players, here’s my take on what sets them apart and when to use them:
Lovable: Perfect for non-developers who want to quickly spin up a full-stack production app. Bonus: it integrates smoothly with GitHub and Supabase.
Bolt: Similar to Lovable but gives users more control over the code—ideal if you like a bit more flexibility.
V0: Great for generating beautiful UIs in a snap, though it’s not a full-stack solution.
Replit: A powerful online coding environment that’s expanding its features to help users create full-stack production apps.
Cursor: Coding copilot built for developers who need help improving productivity with AI and want more control over their codebase.
Windsurf: Think Cursor, but designed for professional teams. It comes with a sleeker UI and team-friendly features.
// Lovable’s future roadmap
The team at Lovable isn’t slowing down. Their upcoming features aim to push boundaries even further.
For those who love design tools like Figma, Lovable is set to simplify prototyping by enabling AI to generate UIs that closely mirror Figma files. In addition, they’re working on agentic capabilities, empowering the AI to autonomously run tests, gather user input, and execute tasks seamlessly. Collaboration is also getting a boost, with plans to facilitate interdisciplinary teamwork between developers, designers, and operators—turning what feels like a single-player game into a true multiplayer experience.
When I asked Anton about the future, he said he wanted Lovable to be the "last piece of software" anyone would ever need to build apps.
I’m inspired by the prospect of a future where anyone, regardless of technical skill, can effortlessly bring their ideas to life.
Leo
Very interesting!
As a vibe coder, love this article!