TL;DRLovable CEO Anton Osika says Europe’s AI gap is about confidence, not talent, as his Stockholm startup hits $500M ARR.
Lovable CEO Anton Osika says European AI startups do not have a talent shortage, they have a confidence deficit. In a post on X over the weekend, Osika argued that founders were repeatedly told to move to San Francisco if they wanted to build a serious AI company, but that the real barrier was never the engineering pipeline.
“The talent was never the problem,” Osika wrote. “The belief that you could build from here was.”
The comments carry weight because Lovable has become one of the strongest data points for the counter-argument. The Stockholm-based vibe-coding platform surpassed $500 million in annualised revenue this month, making it one of the fastest-growing software companies in history with just 146 employees. The company has raised $653 million across four funding rounds, reaching a valuation north of six billion dollars after a $330 million Series B led by CapitalG and Menlo Ventures.
Osika said millions of people have used Lovable to turn ideas into products and businesses, with many based in Europe, though the United States remains the company’s largest market. He pointed to engineers choosing to return to Europe for what he called their most important work.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
