Lovable, the Stockholm-based vibe coding platform famously labeled as “the last piece of software,” recently became the latest European unicorn following a $200 million Series A round. Their remarkable rise illustrates the speed and scale with which ambitious entrepreneurs can succeed from Europe, challenging some prevailing narratives about European innovation.
In recent discussions, Europe's innovation landscape is often depicted as lacking ambition, capital, and a tolerance for risk compared to the US and China. Critics frequently highlight heavy regulation and risk aversion as barriers holding Europe back (see Draghi’s 2024 report for some highlights).
Yet, Lovable shows that you can build unicorns out of Europe at rapid pace. It turns out you can attract world-class teams, plenty of capital and hockey-stick revenue graphs if you nail the timing and execution.
Lovable is one of several AI-native companies currently disrupting white-collar professions. As identified by Ida Hansson Brusewitz and Henrik Ek of Di Digital, others worth mentioning are Legora (valuation SEK 6.5 billion), Sana (valuation SEK 5.3 billion), and Lightbringer (estimated SEK 250 million).
All of these companies were born out of Sweden. That’s no accident either, as Sweden recently reclaimed its position as the EU’s top innovator according to the 2025 European Innovation Scoreboard. Stockholm leads this drive, with Gothenburg and Malmö also ranking within Europe's top 10 innovation elite.
Don’t Let Deeptech Starve in the Shadow of Software
However, bragging and complacency are not core Swedish traits. Amidst justified celebration of Lovable’s success, there is also reason for caution – especially for the deeptech scene. Lovable’s story should not overshadow the unique needs and timelines inherent to deeptech startups, especially those tackling critical physical challenges in climate, resilience, and industrial transformation.
If investors and entrepreneurs come to see Lovable's rapid journey as the gold standard, there's a real risk that capital and attention could shift disproportionately towards fast-scaling AI and software ventures. This could inadvertently leave critical deeptech innovations—essential to our future prosperity and security—starved of resources and attention. Although AI holds tremendous potential, our atom-based world still depends heavily on tangible, physical technologies. We need more entrepreneurs and investors to dare venturing into this area.
Physical deeptech innovation is inherently complex, costly, and slow. Entrepreneurs often face extended periods of R&D, patenting processes, supply chain establishment, and production scaling—challenges rarely faced by purely digital ventures. Following the challenges—some would say the Swedish “national trauma”—of companies like Northvolt, investors may understandably prefer the perceived simplicity and rapid returns of software-based businesses with an AI flair.
Deeptech Is Messy. It’s Also Necessary.
Yet, the case for supporting deeptech remains strong—both morally and economically.
Morally, deeptech is critical to climate transition, resilience and sovereignty.
AI alone cannot transition us away from fossil fuels, and uncontrolled AI growth might even increase our carbon footprint (see Nature’s recent article on AI power consumption). Europe has historically led global sustainability efforts and must remain at the forefront of developing necessary physical technologies to secure our ecological future.
Additionally, geopolitical developments such as Russia’s decade-long war on Europe (since the 2014 invasion of Crimea), the unpredictability of the current US administration, and China's growing quest to dominate global supply chains remind us that technological sovereignty matters. Strengthening deeptech innovation boosts Europe's resilience and bargaining power in the long-term.
Economically, deeptech startups deliver substantial long-term value. Unlike software companies that can easily relocate overseas, physical technology firms are deeply rooted in regional ecosystems, fostering stable economic growth and employment. Deeptech companies generally tend to involve more people, meaning more investors, employees and suppliers will ride on the success of a single company.
Still, deeptech has important lessons to learn from the software sector. Rapid iteration, customer-centricity, and market relevance must become core practices, even within longer product cycles. Too often, deeptech innovations fail commercially because they disregard market signals or lack entrepreneurial execution. Addressing these gaps is crucial for building the next-generation deeptech successes out of Europe.
So, congratulations to Lovable for their well-earned unicorn status and inspiration to Europe’s startup ecosystem. But let's also ensure the spotlight remains bright enough to illuminate and nurture the vital deeptech innovations Europe urgently needs.
